Baked Alaska – Far Away
by Hana Song Fanfics
Summary: After being treacherously attacked by the shadowy forces of Salem's and Cinder Fall, the lethal Neopolitan and brave Yang Xiao Long are sent together to a Kingdom far from Atlas's. Now they will have to work together to achieve the same goal: Destroy Cinder and her allies. Besides finding Team RWBY for the battle of their lifes. PS: Recurring events of the sixth season.
1. Reencounter - Part 1

**_" Reencounter - Part 1 "_**

"Welcome Back to Home"

That phrase communicated via the radio communicator located on the navigation panel was enough to keep the other Beacon survivors' team members on full alert, along with an amazing surprise at the tone used in that voice that seemed to refer to the ship with a certain "familiarity," almost as if addressing specifically one of the only descendants of Atlas, who was at the bottom of the fleet ship with her arms crossed at chest level, but then slowly lowering them during a clear change of facial expression before serious, for a worried and apprehensive.

The others sitting with their backs to the metal surface of the walls rose almost immediately as they looked out the front window, with the gigantic island of the city still to float amid its glittering bluish glow that covered almost the entire surface of the walls. Numerous remarkably large buildings that could be seen even miles away, along with the slightest whitish features that made them stand out.

The fleet indicated by Qrow moments before the announcement was quite suspicious for its position, evidently prepared for some kind of direct attack on Atlas, there was something going on there that none of the passengers of that ship suspected, but would surely discover, taking into account given the fact that they were approaching where the ship's landing sector would be, which was reluctantly happening, as Maria was trying hard to change course to land in a part farther from the city's military, something of the which they needed least since the insane confrontation they had against the completely psychotic commander who protected the previous city they passed.

" What the hell are you doing, Maria ?! We can't appear like this in this place! " Qrow was definitely in the throes of near panic and nervousness as he headed for the older woman who piloted the ship, but whose face would briefly stare at him with a pained countenance and amid enormous confusion.

" It's not me doing this! The steering doesn't work at all, it's like an outside system is controlling the ship! " She retorted as she tried to rotate this sideways several times, trying some buttons and features she was aware of on the control panel, but it was a totally useless attempt, none of the aircraft's internal operations worked.

" They know we're here... " Weiss spoke wide-eyed in terror as she placed both hands on the surface of her chest and was shivering at the thought of having to face her father once more, having to turn back to that mansion that most resembled a prison, and worst of all, having to see herself far from its teammates once again. It was inevitable that tears would well up in the corners of her eyes, turning slightly downcast as she tried to hide her emotions from the others, who watched her sadly as they learned of her situation as she flew through the air.

Ruby was the first to go to her teammate, hugging her tightly and whispering in her ear calmly.

" It's all right, Weiss. I won't let them take you away from us... " Those words were enough for Schnee to engage her friend in one of the tightest gestures of affection that could be done on her own, as much as possible to avoid letting the hurt come over her.

" Damn, I knew we shouldn't have trusted that stupid old woman! " Yang gritted her teeth in anger before closing both fists tightly and then unleashing some of his own revolt against the metal wall behind her, using her right hand, leaving an aggressive mark of its destructive potential that would surely use to detonate anyone who was willing to get in the way.

The ship would have already entered at high speed through the entrance tunnel to the main landing gate of the military ships, passing a long black path with some illumination points on the sides of the ceiling, with Qrow narrowing his gaze as the light at the end faded. approached them at that speed.

" Get ready, kids. This may end up needing a good fight. " He made a point of unceremoniously alerting them, rising from the co-driver's chair and joining the others who were awaiting the imminent encounter with their non-fans in a moment.

" It's good that you use several tazers, because today I'm in the mood to bust someone. " Nora would raise her hammer with the right hand, letting it lie above her own shoulders, while Ren reloaded his twin armaments as he cocked them against his own breastplate.

" Well, here we go again. " Oscar would rotate his former Ozpin cane between the spaces of his own fingers, holding it in his left hand in a fencing position, as his second personality had taught him during daily training with the others.

Jaune and Blake stepped out of the ship's access door as the bright light came through the aircraft window, its intensity dimming sufficiently that they could see themselves in a huge sector of not only ships, but thousands of other types of aircraft. Weaponry used by the Atlas military, to the exact same type of robot used by Torchwick in one of the fiercest clashes against Team RWBY. Apparently it appeared to be larger, and multiplied tenfold more than they had found in the mines before the total attack on Beacon.

Soon everyone was facing the front door, which would automatically open for them, already equipped with their weapons and in combat positions, if they needed to take a more aggressive stance against those who should be on the same side as themselves, but for some reason this was no longer the case.

After the ship landed firmly on the center of the sector, the metal door had finally been pulled wide apart to reveal numerous aiming lasers aimed at the corpses of the group, whose stares were firmly facing the more than thirty soldiers equipped with the most recent remarkable. weaponry developed by Atlas since the failure to deploy new troops in other cities.

The temptation of those aiming to pull the triggers was noticeably great, as were the Hunters who clenched their fingers around their weapons to strike back at any moment, but all had been interrupted almost as immediately by a slow and high clap from the one behind that group of men.

They would make room for him as he stepped forward, probably the last person Weiss or any of the other members even wanted to see in their lives. Mr. Schnee, there he was, his facial expression sharply mocked at seeing all those he said were "invaders" for being present there on his territory.

"Well, well, well ... Looks like there's no way to stay away from home, does it, my daughter?"

His tone was obviously full of irony, letting out a short cornered laugh from his lips as he put his own hands in the front pockets of his navy-colored social pants.

" Get down from there. " He would now shift to a more serious and direct countenance, nodding to the soldiers to withdraw one by one from those present until they were finally out of the ship, which would automatically take off in full flight through the busy sector.

Team RWBY and the other allies were in total helplessness at that moment, however skillful each of them was, it would do no good against that fleet that was putting their heads as their primary target, leaving no choice but to stand still.

" Qrow ... I should imagine you were involved in all this. Taking these kids with you on a journey without any kind of downward purpose " He would boldly provoke the technically rival of interests by looking him up and down with some contempt in his defiant smile.

" It's better than leaving them in the hands of complete disorientation just like you, you have no idea what a mistake you are making to see us as enemies. " Qrow words were bold and, at the same time, true in their meaning, confronting the eldest without any reluctance or fear, had already faced more disgusting things than he did.

" Then you should stop acting like them. " The gray-haired man then shifted his attention to Weiss, hitherto hiding behind Blake and Ruby who stood firm in their protection to prevent any stupid action on the part of others.

" Weiss, dear ... Why all this fear? Don't you wanna be near daddy? " The more he talked, the more everyone wanted, especially Yang, to break that bastard's face to the maximum of them potential together, but for the moment, it was out of the question.

" We know what you did to her, you asshole! You're just a cowardly rich shit! " Nora shouted as she pointed with her right forefinger toward his face, frowning, already completely fed up with the psychological terror he insisted on placing on her friend's mind.

" Now I know where Weiss got this classlessness from. " Once again he used his social class to refute the others' arguments, with Ren having to hold his red-haired one so that no disaster would happen.

" Listen, Schnee. There are things going on here that go far beyond what your money can handle. It's a life or death situation, don't be stupid! " Qrow was trying his best to extend his patience by advancing two steps toward he, with the guns unhooked and the gunmen ready to fire in sync, just waiting for the necessary orders.

" We need to talk to Ironwood right away! It's only a matter of time before Atlas is the next Grimm target! "

" And who said this is my problem? I'm only here for my daughter, Atlas can be set aside for now. " That answer completely wiped out all the Hunters present, it was simply unbelievable how far this man could be so far from a true human being. As Weiss had described, he only cared about himself and, of course, about the family's reputation. It was simply shameful.

" - Why you...! " Yang was about to push things over the edge, but it had been interrupted by a strong shudder that would force everyone there to set foot on the landing floor so as not to unbalance, unlike the soldiers who were so focused on aiming at their men armaments, which went to the ground immediately with the slightest stir. With a huge explosion occurring in the ceiling area of the sector, forcing the Hunters to immediately scatter across the enclosure as they dodged several debris that fell toward their heads, with Qrow reluctantly having to save Weiss's father's life by pulling at him collar of the buttoned-up shirt and tossing he away from the area where half of the structure would collapse, then leaping a few feet farther to maintain its own safety, and inevitably many of Atlas's soldiers were eventually destroyed. The others who were well into the ships and out through the hole through the top of the gates, already using their heavy built-in weaponry to fire at something that was only revealed after Ruby and the others finally approaching the area, seeing a gigantic serpent-shaped Grimm outside, which had just destroyed one of the ships in a single bite, turning its attention to the young as it revealed its prey, advancing immediately, with Ruby crumbling into petals roses to fly out of the creature's reach and close to its left eye, striking it in a 360 spin with the use of its scythe, plucking it out without any problems, causing an extremely loud howl of pain by the monster, which was silenced by a top-down hammering from Nora, causing the reptile's body to fall over the remainder of the military sector, with ending with Qrow, who would stab his sword at once into the center of the Grimm's skull, taking the blade from the middle of all that rotting flesh, and then reach the top with the others watching the Atlas horizon in question of mere minutes, being the target of a massive dark attack, with other Grimm being formed by a black cloud in the skies amid a flight toward the floating city. On the ground, chaos prevailed with several soldiers about to be slaughtered while sacrificing their lives to protect their homes, firing their weapons on enemies without any mercy, and not receiving it in return either. The streets were in chaos, and the buildings were collapsing faster than you could see, absurd destruction was taking place there, and Beacon's memories only reinforced the fact that this was yet another of Salem's works.

" Oh my God... " Ren was practically speechless at all this, they hadn't even heard a single suspicious sound, it was all so sudden, there had been no sense in having so many Grimm in the city in a matter of moments. Except, of course, someone brought it straight from a source in Atlas.

" We have to help them! " Oscar immediately suggested as he wielded his cane and prepared to jump from the roof of the structure to fight, but had been stopped by Qrow, who put his arm in front of him.

" It's no use just moving all together without thinking of a strategy, especially with those things up there ... We have to be smarter than that. Support is already coming. " He scolded him for pushing him back a little, taking a deep breath and sighing as he saw Atlesian's larger ships begin to move across the skies, along with the smaller ones that started a trail of fire in the air during the Grimm's clash flying, following the new wave of threats looming in the streets farther away, closing his eyes tightly.

" Right ... Now we can go. " Having said that, he would jump from the roof of the facility toward other nearby buildings, landing firmly on their surface, followed by the young men who preferred to go downstairs.

And so began a mind-blowing confrontation with Salem's evil forces, which fought savagely to pull away every bit of the Hunters' bodies, which they used from all their learning to stay alive in that chaos.

Ruby swung her scythe in front of her own body as she alternated left and right directions as her enemies crowded around her. She bent down at one point as she knelt on the partially cracked asphalt, in the process driving the scythe blade against the surface of a bear-like Grimm's chest, tearing it all the way to the front, already rising to roses, flying towards several that came in a straight line, throwing them away from each other on the sides as it impacted its own body against theirs, due to the force of acceleration. Following already going to the top of the nearest building, where Qrow would be holding five at a time, having double-tapped one of them, knocking him over and sequentially hitting his face to throw the creature beyond the edge of the building construction. He blocked the other two's attacks simultaneously with the sword, using the blade's lying surface to redirect his fists and claws toward each other's faces, causing them to pull back properly to save above them and make a twenty-cut sequence at once, leaving them in tiny pieces, then rotating 180 and blushing another in half, ending by propelling the weapon behind the right side of the waist, nailing into the abdomen of another, then pulling up, splitting it up in two, kicking the corpse away from him. At this moment, Ruby would land above another's head with her scythe, beheading him immediately, giving the older one a wink and already parting from him once more.

Already a few blocks away, Nora and Ren used their Semblance combination to hold Elephant-like Grimm's, with the Browns' guns being the primary use for reaching them from afar, while being wary of the shadow wolves who were advancing on each other, but being thrown away by Nora, who felt almost like a pro baseball player.

Oscar paired up with Jaune in the fight against Flying Gorillas that were just starting to land on the rooftops, with the blond using the shield embedded in the sword to assist the younger during his attacks, blocking the others from the sides and leaving enough openings for him to retaliate. against those beings, acquiring the supporting role, which was soon changed to be able to confront their enemies directly in the sequence.

Blake was tasked with protecting Maria for much of the time, taking her well out of Grimm's quality range that was hovering around the region, while using her Kusarigama to slice some of the flying type and launch onto building terraces to rock for these.

And farther than everyone else was Yang Xiao Long, who had just crossed the stomach of a fully grown bear with his right metal fist, pulling it out of his opponent's rotten body and already grasping his opposite paw to her for launch against one of the wolves that would leap toward her, holding the second under and over the jaw, breaking as she pushed in the opposite direction, having to deal with those flying monkey designs, or whatever they were, that were for spreading through Atlas like a plague. As she turned her attention to the heavens, she could see the chaos that was taking place, with several ships being exploded in the air and collapsing against various homes and other commercial parts of the center, with flames and smoke taking over the horizon in no time.

The blonde sighed heavily before turning her body into the air 360 degrees, kicking her left heel against one more of those thugs, knocking him out and turning to gasp to face the coming horde, destroying everything they saw, having to use Ember Celica on both wrists to fire as she walked toward her enemies, gritting her teeth with hatred of those things, turning to create a huge hole in the chest of one trying to surprise her from the rear, already reloading for further imminent shots.

At this moment, it was possible to notice a bigger tremor to happen in the city, of so strong that it ended up making one of the Skyscrapers far away collapsing with everything, the people were desperate for their own survival, reaching to the other falls without caring , with many eventually being killed on their way to escape, giving Yang the duty to escort the crowd through the streets to the containment zone, which would be located north of Atlesian's main military base. Or at least die trying.

\--

Meanwhile, the sharp sound of moving metal was almost a melody in the ears of Neopolitan, who twirled a small, thin-bladed Swiss army knife through her own right-hand fingers, a rather monotonous pastime since the match it had been given by Cinder during their trip to Atlas in search of their common adversary, the well-known Ruby Rose. Just thinking of such a name made the brain of the bicolor reproduce images of when it departed from Torchwick before his death, due to the trick the red-hooded girl used to get her out of the way to confront the redhead alone.

That night, the little girl felt as if her whole world had begun to crumble gradually, failing to accept at all the reality that the only person she had ever lived with almost in a fraternal relationship, and who had truly cared for she since then. At first, was now dead. Anger and remorse were the only sensations the girl had shown since finding out about the elder being murdered, her motivation since that time was to find a way to continue everything he had done for himself and her organization, were it not in vain. The revenge that was now lodged in her heart had now become one of her greatest, perhaps the only, reason to keep trying to get around that situation.

Without Torchwick to lead herself or others who were once also involved with Cinder, she was completely aimless, blinded only by the desire to simply kill whoever was responsible for everything that had gone wrong with him. And thanks to her now "teammate," she felt like she was relocating on track again, had an ultimate goal, and that would only be completed when she had Ruby Rose's silver eyes crushed on the soles of her feet. The only bad part of it was having to align with the one that coordinated them to such fate, who ordered the attack on Beacon, Cinder Fall. She was definitely not easily bearable, costing even silent gestures to her during communications between both parts, but she was the only one who had enough power to assist Neo in concluding her revenge against the Team RWBY leader, who apparently was with other Beacon Hunters.

It was only a matter of a few hours for the ship they were in, which was camouflaged by Neo's Semblance as one similar to those made in Atlas, to arrive in the least possible area of sight of the farthest floating island.

" Looks like we're late for the party. " Cinder commented on the partially deformed when she saw the visible disaster that would be occurring throughout the city that covered the surface of the territory, with a legion of ships on the part of the military that were emerging even from the sides where the two were, with reinforcements being sent immediately by the rulers of other Kingdoms, who were trying their best to rid Atlas of that terrifying invasion, with more ground support from the large robots and metal androids that were beginning to clear the streets.

Neo approached the aircraft's front visor as they approached the area closer, watching the people below as they were chased to death, as well as the huge catastrophes and destruction that went on and on. The girl couldn't help but feel her heart clench at these scenes, no matter how much worse things she had witnessed, that kind of tragedy still shook her head, even reminding her of what had happened at Beacon.

To see all those homes in thousands of pieces, the desperation of all those inhabitants doing their best to survive such monstrosities, the river of blood that was spilled on the ground, so many lifeless bodies. Uneasiness seized Neo's emotional momentarily, immediately diverting her attention to his own feet, taking a deep breath and sighing heavily, closing her eyes tightly.

" It's a really pitiful scene, don't you think? So much weaponry in the possession of this army, but not enough protection capability to ward off these threats from here. More than deserved. " Cinder's cynical laugh was one of the main postcards of this trip, which made Neo squint at her with a distinctly unhappy look at that comment, so little about that terrible tragedy.

Yes, the bicolor was indeed a Serial Killer, but her lethal talents were always used only in favor of her work which, practically, consisted of missions passed on by Romans in the past, not as if she felt the need to kill someone every minute. Besides, her current aim was just to go after Ruby Rose, involve anyone else in the midst of that was out of the question, except her teammates who would surely intervene to protect her. And among them, she was also seeking to find a specific, coincidentally sister of the silver-eyed, physically strongest of all Team RWBY members: Yang Xiao Long.

She remembered her well enough, could not forget the victory she would have won over her during their one-on-one confrontation on the train carrying Torchwick's explosive terrorists to start Beacon's terrifying disaster. She also remembered the chance she had to bring the blonde to a definite end when she almost pierced her heart with the blade of her umbrella, but fortunately for her adversary, they would have been interrupted by an incredibly powerful figure of aura, which prevented her. to accomplish the feat.

She wondered until the present moment: What had happened to her? Was she still alive? Had her skills and technique improved?

Neo's curiosity gradually increased as she reflected more on this subject, which in some ways interested her a little more than her own goal at times, reflecting on it for a few minutes.

This was even removed from her daydreams by Cinder, who gritted his teeth hard as she saw in the chaos a face she could never forget, no matter how hard she tried, it was as if a constant nightmare struck itself.

" There she is, Neopolitan. The reason our lives are in this deplorable state ... We found the little red riding hood. " Such words would make the bicolor immediately focus on the outside view of the aircraft through the front window, being able to see its target because it was moving at a very high speed, because of its Semblance that turned it into rose petals, while being pursued by several Grimm's that were inevitably wiped off the map by Atlesian's troops, who were slowly beginning to regain control of the situation.

(Ruby Rose ...)

Neo thought as she clenched both fists tightly as she frowned, immediately turning to the metal entrance door that Cinder had now opened just after pressing one of the buttons on the control panel, thus enabling the passage outside the aircraft, with several Grimm's taking care of the area near which they were, with the older woman immediately rising from her pilot's seat as she put the automatic navigation in a straight line, approaching Neo and supporting his right hand on her opposite side shoulder. While the other firmly held her deceased's hat over her head.

" Let's get this over with today, now, Neopolitan. " Cinder would smile sharply from the corner before throwing herself from above, using her Fall Maiden powers to fly through the various burning buildings whose interiors were infested with Grimm's, driving at a fairly high speed to where she had detected the little red hood earlier. Neo went after this moments later, wielding her umbrella with the right hand and opening it, so that the strong current of wind would carry her along with Cinder, with the aircraft finally having its illusory image removed and completely destroyed by the flying creatures that made it into several pieces until it exploded grandly.

\--

On the ground, Yang was facing the daunting task of holding the powerful pressure jaws of a huge Grimm snake that managed to have time to intercept before devouring an entire family of innocent civilians who were soon escorted by the robotic troops of Atlas. They shot the creature mercilessly until it was completely filled with openings at such a temperature present in the projectiles fired at it, finally dropping the mouth of the monster and sighing with relief, but it was still just the beginning. Ren and Nora seemed to be having trouble in the South, while Jaune and Oscar didn't know if they could hold back the horde coming from the West any longer, so all that remains is to hope that Ruby or Qrow could put order in the air, and couldn't help rising her head to watch with such dread for the intense slaughter that took place there, with bodies of the dead creatures falling from minute to minute on the streets, was almost like a disturbing nightmare.

However, such factors would be set aside altogether after her eyes captured the image of a familiar female figure who was about to move in the wind not far from where the blonde was currently, and could recognize those garments and that hair even in among the entire world population. That girl was... The same one she faced on the train run by Torchwick! What the hell was she doing there? Was this young girl part of an alliance she would have formed with Salem's forces?

Yang had no idea what her longtime rival might be doing there, but one thing she was sure of, after all the hard training she had been through and the humiliation she felt during their first fight that fateful day, Yang felt absurd need to go after that girl and put a definite end to it. She hadn't seen Cinder yet, since the difference in airspeed between them was very sharp, but not noticeable to the eyes at that distance, so she was driven only by the desire to repay what have received when faced the bicolor for the first time, trying to begin the follow the path she made with that damn umbrella, completely ignoring the presence of any Grimm that got in her way, causing more damage than they themselves were doing, making way by using her fury in advance to warm herself, in order to be really ready to confront her opponent once and for all.

\--

There she was, Ruby Rose, after so long searching for that girl, finally Cinder found herself with part of her duty as she landed on the cracked ground of that huge crater located in the center of the city, and in front of her, the silver-eyed was busy facing a praying mantis grimm that used its "claws" to try to slice she into several pieces, having to be well focused to block the powerful strikes against the sharp blade of her scythe, making sparks bounce from the sides, turning the object around her neck, with the end of the loop eventually hitting one of the creature's legs, being the front right, grabbing the handle with both hands and pulling laterally, tearing it to the point to make the unclean blood spurt out, placing the scythe at the side of the body to prevent another powerful blow to the remaining paw, trying to pin the object around it and twist with all her might using the two hands, then pulling at she and yanking at once, ending in a horizontal cut that separated the monster's face into two pieces, already gasping for so much energy spent in that seemingly endless fight.

Just then, something strange in the air, with the arrows up and a little normal, in order to point the eye down. Cinder Fall accompanying her with chest-length crossed arms, with the left side of the face and body covered by a long brown cloak, staring at her with a smile at the same time with a remarkably startled reaction from the little girl.

" C-Cinder ...?! "

Neo would arrive shortly thereafter, closing the umbrella after being at a significant height from the ground, managing to reach it gracefully, closing the object and standing on the back of his right shoulder, watching. a little hoodie with an opium-filled facial expression that now circled through the bicolor's veins with incredible intensity, fists to the metal floor of the umbrella and staring at him in full force. own account. The new generation was completely at the same time, with a welcome appearance, swallowing hard before being defensive with their weapon.

" Neopolitan ... "

" Well, well, well, it looks like she remembers your name." Cinder turned her gaze to the bicolor, who smiled cruelly before fix her attention to the opponent ahead, narrowing her gaze slightly.

" What are you doing here...? Are you responsible for this? Are you still next to Salem?! "

Neo was slightly confused by a self-defeating blindness, raising an eyebrow to Cinder, who ignored her partner's apparent doubt.

" Oh no, no, no ... Salem is past, Red. We're on our own now ... What's a problem? "

She would laugh wickedly, causing a strong wind sphere to form in the palm of her hand aside from the waist.

" That won't change anything, Cinder... "

" I know, Red. But, you know, at least it will help me dream back. "

" You're completely insane! We are in the midst of a war that could end up destroying this world! You don't have to do this... "

" But inevitably, I want to. And as you see, I'm not the only one. " She indicated with the head to Neo, that then would remove the umbrella from the shoulders and leave one end resting on the ground, leaving as two options on the other without its support, adjusting the hat on her head first of all. That was almost an immediate response to Ruby, just seeing the characteristic object that was always with the redhead, taking a few steps back, but still holding a defensive position.

" I didn't kill him! I swear to everything that exists! "

" Red, Red, Red ... Lies are not the safeguard of your destiny. "

The air accumulates around the old woman's body, now floating as she withdraws her eye that covers her face, using her left hand, revealing some of the visual vision, burning deep and sighing furiously, using the Powers of Fall to increase her capabilities and tackle the silver-eyed along with Neopolitan.

The Serial Killer was looking at the target on both sides, removing the umbrella from the ground and pressing the button at the end of the support cable, retracting a sharp blade and seeing the fear in the younger girl's eyes, knowing that she would have no chance against both of them, but not seeming to want to back off at all.

" Let's finish what we started in that night, Ruby. "

And it was with these words that both of them would advance in sync towards the opponent, starting the confrontation that had been waiting so long since they had formed a team.

\--

The battle had been arduous and even a little longer than they had hoped it would be, with victory being secured for Neopolitan and Cinder, who faced the enemy lying in the rubble, her scythe nailed to the ground not so far from where they were. The front of her else's face was gradually bleeding as she tried to regain consciousness, uselessly using the remaining strength to lift herself, but was prevented by a kick by the older woman over the stomach, rolling her to the side, agonizing with pain.

Neopolitan had a smiling face as she felt the power coursing through her veins, the feeling of finally being able to fulfill her greatest will, her revenge, was of extreme value. She always loved to feel above the opponents, to see them at her feet for not even being a match for herself, the absolute conviction that she could kill anyone, anytime she wanted. It had been several days since someone's blood had been on their hands, so that moment had become somewhat nostalgic for her.

" N-N-Neo... P-Please... " Ruby was begging her with that silver eyes, trying her best to lift herself up, but having her back tread on Cinder with great pressure, making her scream with the purest pain to travel through her physique. Tears streamed from the corners of her eyes at imagining the imminent possibility of being killed there at that moment, having made the whole journey in vain, disappointing her teammates, failing with the whole world.

The bicolor would observe this without any apparent sympathy at first, but not being able to allow herself to hear her words, as much as it was intended only for the girl's death, was intrigued by her final remarks. She raised her eyebrow slightly as she looked at her, almost as if to indicate to continue the talking.

" I-I swear, I didn't kill Roman...! H-He was... Swallowed by a Grimm! I didn't do anything! Please ... Don't do this... I know you're suffering, but this revenge won't get you anywhere... "

She complemented this by staring at her with a sad, desperate facial expression for her own life, closing both eyes as she finally managed to sit up and lean her back on some debris closer.

Neo was quite surprised by her words, for the first time she had received details about Torchwick's death, not even Cinder had bothered to clarify this for herself. For a moment, a strange feeling came over her mind, it was almost like a reprimand that her conscience was applying to her, but she didn't understand why.

She would squint at Cinder beside her, that in turn would give a smile that said it all for himself, indicating that this was the time to finalize they pending accounts and leave the Hell that was gradually settling around the city. However, the girl's tone of voice would make Neo rethink the reason why they were there, having crossed all of this, just to end the fight Roman began. One wondered if even the oldest cared about that.

" What are you waiting for, Neopolitan? Get it over with at once. " Cinder was precise and straightforward, as the partially deformed was eager to taste the blood spilling from the dying girl's body in front of her, with Neo needing a few more minutes to decide her conscious course, with Ruby's words managing really make she hesitate for the first time before complete her goals. Was that really what she wanted?

Is this what Roman wanted?

" N-N-No... I... I beg you... "

For the first time, the Little Red Riding Hood found herself completely alone, vulnerable and helpless in the face of the evil forces running through their hearts, but still trying in some way to keep the bicolor from making that mistake.

" Neo, finish it! " Cinder screamed, already totally impatient with that, the sound of the blade being pulled from the handle of that umbrella being the death sentence of the silver-eyed one, who stared very closely at the glow of the metal being lit by the glare of the high flames that were they scattered across Atlas, then with Neo positioning the sharp point toward the left side of her opponent's neck. A mix of feelings was to occur in the mind of Serial Killer, which at best tried to focus only on its goal of revenge, leaving any kind of mercy away from herself.

" KILL HER! "

And in that, it would move the pointed object against the marked region in a single quick and precise strike, but whose impact was not made against the skin, but on a metal surface that would hold the blade before it even hit the silver-eyed.

As she shifted his attention to the right side, Neo could once again find herself facing the same person who had already been the subject of much thought in Neo's mind, the same long blond hair she thought would never see again in her life. There was the main rival that the destiny held so much for such an unexpected reunion, taking a quick breath between her lips as she stared at the bicolor with a hostile countenance.

There was a distinct difference in her, noticeable in her right hand and arm, which were replaced by advanced Atlas technology, apparently in perfect condition. With Ember Celica attached to her wrist on the opposite side, Yang did not hesitate to fire more than three shots at Cinder, who was thrown several meters away due to Dust's excessive load on the robotic arm's inner compartment, then attempting a shot against Neo's face, but she was quick enough to immediately dodge and pull the blade away from her rival's hand, bouncing back gracefully and landing now to snap the handle back into the umbrella, opening it wide immediately to block some more explosive projectiles sent by Yang.

" Sorry for the delay, Sis. I had some problems with the traffic. "

The blonde joked as she reached for the smaller one, whose grip she would hold tightly as she struggled to her feet, having to rest her back on the debris behind her, the bicolor firmly watching the longtime enemy, leaving the umbrella on her right shoulder gently, smiling at her in an innocent expression.

" Yang, these two ... Y-You can't ... "

" No more fighting for you today. This is up to me now. "

" But ...! "

Right now, Cinder would return at incredible speed toward the two young women, with Yang immediately aiming for Ember Celica toward the attacker, but with Blake's Gambel Shroud being faster than herself, wrapping the wire around his neck. her and pulling her off the ground to drop her face over it a few feet away, with the Fauna landing as she turned her weapon sideways to her own body.

" I take care of her, Yang. "

As Cinder try to retaliate, she would be surprised by a cut in the area of her chest in a matter of moments, placing her left hand over the wound and howling in pain before standing again, and could see Weiss for being in the opposite direction of Blake, acquiring a fencer defensive position.

" And me too. "

The descendant Xiao Long knew what should be done now, trying to signal Qrow that he was not far away, with he becoming a raven to fly over and land safely on the ground, as he was previously above a building. twenty-two stories. As he approached the little one, he would take her in his arms and then run away, casting a trusting look at Yang before disappearing from sight.

Then, finally, that long-awaited day had come, the reunion between the blonde and the bicolor had taken place sooner than expected under normal circumstances, now facing each other in silence, separated by the considerable distance taken by both of them in additional caution.

Yang's lilac eyes connected with the deep brown and pink of Neo, who kept her smile on while giving his opponent a wink with her left eye, with the blonde in response slammed both fists against each other with power.

" No matter how long it lasts, I will end you completely once and for all. " Yang threatened, already determined for the imminent fight to come, with Neo being somewhat euphoric internally for the start of the confrontation he had been waiting for. From the day they had first fought, she saw the immense potential that the larger one had within her, but unfortunately wasted by the anger of her Semblance, who gave her knowledge of all the older woman's weaknesses.

However, there were so many different things about her, both aesthetically and mentally, that was remarkable in Neopolitan's eyes. She seemed more focused than when they first met, and had improved physique with far tighter training than the one could imagine.

The girl couldn't help biting the lower left corner of her own lip at the sight of Yang's changed look, drawing her attention from the bottom up to her, ending with once again fixing their glances for seconds that seemed more like hours of pure concentration on the next act each would do.

And it only took Neo one step to start one of the best battles she'd ever dreamed of having with anyone all her life.

Now was the time for truth.


	2. Reencounter - Part 2

**_" Reencounter - Part 2"_**

Eventually the fighting had begun between the two of them, with Yang trying to acquire the defensive stance she had learned to improve as she was training with Taiyang during her recovery at the family cottage, narrowing her gaze to avoid being carried away for the illusory tricks she already knew about being part of the girl's Semblance, given the fact that her disguise in Vale wasn't enough to fool her completely.

Only then did she come face to face with her, whose facial expression was provocative as she slammed the umbrella handle against the sides of her waist, but the impacts were absorbed by the forearm blocks consecutive fighting style with Muay Thai characteristics, due to the self-control that the blonde had in her body movement. Yang would lower her upper body in a swift deviation, already aiming for a right-hand punch with her metallic fist against Neo's slender abdomen, but whose reflexes were insistently faster than she had remembered since their first fight, already placing the forearm on the right side of the head to block an umbrella hit and moving the head sideways simultaneously each time the bicolor advanced fencing techniques against its face, with the small one turning 360 to open the object and use this one to block the larger one's field of view during her Ember Celica shots, even blocking it by twisting the handle and throwing her "weapon" at the Huntresses, jumping over it at such speed that Yang had some trouble, having to be much more precise in joining her arms in front of her face to absorb a three-shot sequence, with the little girl landing firmly on the ground with her right foot and lifting the left into something that would be a half-moon kick to the blonde's chin, already with Neo extending her right arm back and grabbing her umbrella once more.

What she did not expect, however, was that Yang was ready for this movement, placing her right arm under the side of the younger's thigh and holding her heel in the opposite side, thrusting hard into a spin 180 toward the wall of debris just next to them. The little girl had to be quick to open the umbrella in front of her upper body, through the already partially destroyed concrete, landing in a spin with the object and already jumping back, landing gracefully on her feet and closing her weapon again, retracting the sharp blade at the tip.

Yang wasted no time breaking the wall completely with both fists, landing already in the middle of a racing pace, bending down to avoid having her head ripped off by his rival, already taking the opportunity for a right-wing uppercut whose which was blocked by Neo's umbrella handle, striking her face in a direct elbow, but with her Kickboxing reflexes being more effective just by moving sideways, holding her arm with her left hand and placing a large the pressure to perhaps dislocate the bone from the center, but the bicolor didn't even have time to propel her upper body up, putting her own legs between her opponent's neck and flinging her to the ground, already turning the umbrella in her own hands and nailing it towards the head of another.

Yang rolled to the side immediately, resting both hands on the wrecked terrain and spinning her body in 360 continually with his legs apart, causing Neopolitan's umbrella to immediately move away from the larger one. She would rise in a mixed jump with a left heel kick backward, seeing the slightest deflect, landing on a trail with the same side, forcing the rival to jump with her hands resting on a nearby rock behind.

The obstacle would then be destroyed in several pieces by Yang, who used Ember Celica in more than six shots towards the enemy, who would open the umbrella to block them, but not at the same time noting the older woman's strategy, who jumped over the young woman's shielded weapon, landing behind her and unloading as much of her weaponry on both wrists as possible, but after the dust cleared, she saw that it was only an illusion.

Neo would appear unexpectedly beside her in a circular kick toward her head, but Yang would instinctively place his right palm to the left side of her skull, pushing Neo's foot away and turning 180 to make a frontal knee to her abdomen, strike quickly grasped by the umbrella handle, bowing her head in the blonde's attempt at a left crusader, but being carried right to her trap, which halfway thrust her elbow to the side once again failing to hit her, but being a complement to the true attack would be a powerful right hook, which would take the bicolor completely by surprise, having her feet off the ground with such force of impact.

But, of course, this surprising moment didn't last long, for the little one would swing her body back in the air and strike back with a double kick against the enemy's chest, which this turn had no time to react either, with both of them falling a few feet away from each other hard, with them sitting on the ground as they stared at each other panting.

Neopolitan felt her heart beating absurdly with the rush of adrenaline coursing through the veins and the danger through which she went harshly, as Yang's speed now finally equaled her own. She had never received a blow of that magnitude, nor had she imagined it could be struck that way, her rival had really improved a lot since the last time they met. And what struck her most was the fact that the larger one was still relatively calm in the face of this situation, however much her facial expression betrayed an immense inner anger at the bicolor, she had not even activated her Semblance during any of the risky moments of the confrontation, which It made the little girl proud to see her finally be on the level she longed to see.

Yang was completely amazed by all this, feeling finally renewed to the point that she could face Serial Killer one-on-one without much difficulty, compared to the first battle, could see her own truly high performance and potential with all that experience, she couldn't help but leave a brief, unglued smile on her lips before rising calmly, in sync with Neo, as they stared at each other with obvious respect in combat.

The lilac clashed with the pink and brown amid a powerful electric current that ran completely through their bodies, causing the blonde to narrow her eyes a bit, while the assassin remained to watch her now with a somewhat evaluative countenance. As far as Huntresses could tell. Inevitably, she also found herself analyzing it in the purest silence, taking a deep breath and swallowing a few times, the drops of cold sweat running down the sides of the older woman's forehead.

Neo slowly licked her slightly dry lips, gently rubbing the bottom with the top, noting the smile on her part now standing a few feet farther away from her, repeating this gesture more provocatively as he carefully pressed her teeth to the side left over her own tongue, something that would make the other girl discreetly blush when witnessing such an act, which the bicolor did not quite understand the reason, because for her it was just a way to try to remove her patience.

But then, for a moment, she felt the temperature of her own face rise gradually, then tried to shift her attention to the side and mentally rebuke herself for those stupid sensations that were running through her psychological, thus trying to get it over with as she removed the blade of her umbrella handle, advancing through her own illusion by letting a copy of her advance in front of Yang, while herself would be invisible by attacking from the lower right side.

The blonde immediately took up the combat stance once again noticing the straight line advance, but ... That wasn't right, Neo was too smart to simply come at her so obviously, so trying to shoot Ember Celica in both wrists to the ground in front of the alleged rival, thus breaking the illusory figure and being able to hear the real approach, thus immediately holding the blade with the left hand firmly, while reloading Ember Celica on the right wrist and aiming in front of Neo's face, who was staring at her with a surprised facial expression that she had discovered her strategy, but not being afraid of being in her sights. After all, if she had wanted to kill the bicolor, she would have already done so, rolling her eyes to the side with the threat she made.

The blood coming from the palm of Yang's hand ran down the surface of the blade from top to bottom until it splashed over the ground on which both of them met, once again staring at the enemy with a clearly annoyed and already fed up countenance of all that, with her instincts begging to fire, but her heart was the same as Summer's, and that provided her with the least mercy that the adversary really didn't deserve.

"I might as well contract the arm muscles to press the inner trigger, but I'm not just like you." She would spit out the words as she threw the blade away from her, lowering Ember Celica slowly as she took a few steps backward reluctantly, still suspicious if Neo was still intent on hurting the blonde so badly, clenching the fingers of her left fist, the severed palm of which would make her shudder in the pain for a few seconds, but then sighing heavily as she ignored it.

Just like her...? Yes, Neo had forgotten how painful that kind of comparisons and facts were to handle sometimes, because it was more than true. Memories of the things she had already done came back to her through the quick bloody images that had plagued her for many years, even though at the same time she felt a certain satisfaction with such events, the realization of becoming so powerful as to come to be unbeatable, a mix of achievements so great that they gave to her own survival until then. That kind of judgment was really disheartening, as much as it came from the person she knew so little, but who was the only one who didn't kill the younger at the first chance, which really opened the wound the most.

"It's over, Neo. Enough of all this stalking, whatever the reason... I won't let you hurt my sister or my friends anymore," Yang would say amid a calm rhythm of breath, watching the opponent in front of her, still alert for any kind of opportunity she might use to attack the blonde again, slightly flexing the bloody teeth of her injured hand.

Neo clenched her fists together, it was remarkable that she had not yet given up on completing her last task to avenge Roman's death, no matter what, she would see Ruby Rose's dead body thrown at her feet, and if necessary even from her rival or any Huntsmen / Huntresses that crossed her path, already about to continue what she and the blonde started, walking toward her slowly while already preparing a strategy in her mind, with the biggest one coming back to the defensive stance and her heart pounding with the sense of redoubled danger this time, as they were about to make the first hits against each other in sync, with Yang opting for a right-hand jab, Neo about to dodge and pull out the pocketknife tucked into the sleeve of the whitish jacket, to try to reach her jugular, but then both were interrupted by a deafening explosion that would blow them up in a matter of moments, all over the city center, occurring from being unconscious amid so much chaos, with the only possible things the Huntresses could hear being the sister's voice desperately calling for herself.

\--

At last able to open her eyes, Yang found herself in the midst of the purest darkness, except for the clarity provided by the fire that spread through his surroundings, and could see Cinder Fall further by holding Blake and Weiss simultaneously by the hair behind they heads, dropping them all over the rocky terrain, with the blonde immediately desperate as she tried to get up to get to them, but the atmosphere around her seemed heavier than usual, probably because she had hit her so hard against the ground during the blastz that would have created that shadowy dome, so looking up as he stood, seeing a nearer figure of the arch enemy, a man shrouded in nothing but darkness.

She tried to change course to reach the two defeated teammates, staggering a little, her vision still a little fuzzy, but when she got close enough of them, she would be blown away by a strong gust of hot wind that would knock her against the already glazed panels damaged from the remains of a building that was there, luckily with none of the shards penetrating her skin, trying to compose herself again and face Cinder who was slowly approaching her.

"You are really hard on the fall, Xiao Long. I had even noticed your death, you know that?" The level of mockery was incredibly high compared to what had happened, with the older woman smiling sharply from the corner before lifting the blonde by the neck, using her Grimm arm, having the Fall Maiden superhuman strength to make her so much more dangerous than she already was, with the girl trying to break free as much as she could by trying to break those rotten bones with her elbows, but no being effective enough.

"L-Let me go ...!" She murmured as she was suffocated, struggling constantly while her heart seemed to fail a little in her heart rate.

"You don't understand, do you? It's over, Yang. It's only a matter of time before your sister and her friends are found, especially with the support I have now. And then, when I give her head to Salem, I'll resume my post, and finally I won't have to worry about you anymore. " The pressure used in the grip of the fist was gradually stronger, causing Yang to choke a little, the flames forming around Cinder's eyes immediately, increasing the power.

"Cinder, if you will, let it be quick." The voice of that dark being could finally be heard, being so distorted and deeply disturbing, echoing for a few minutes.

"This is my business! Don't intrude!" She frowned at this, turning her head to the side and watching him over the right shoulder, then back to face Yang.

However, it was at this very moment that she would have a nervous shock from running through her body internally as she received a deep cut in the center of her abdomen from a thin, medium-length blade that had been drilled into the area, lowering her head to spot a Neopolitan with a totally enraged facial countenance, shattering her illusory image and then striking the larger Grimm's arm this time, severing it and finally letting it loose Yang, who didn't miss the chance to use full power on Ember Celica fires with the right metal arm over the other left shoulder region, causing Cinder to swing away from both of them.

The blonde put her hand over her jugular, coughing hard as she tried to catch her breath, looking at the bicolor beside her that would watch her sideways briefly. What the hell was she doing?

( Why was she fighting her own partner? She practically tried to kill you several times over time, but now saved you? What was the meaning of all this?! )

As big and larger as the bigger issues were, she knew it was not time to talk, but to fight for their own lifes. She couldn't help but stare at the little girl with some surprise that she was technically changing sides for some reason, receiving an innocent smile in return. Obviously, her rival would not give her explanations in the midst of this, but if they survive, Yang would make a private interrogation for her.

"It looks like your ex-partner is still alive too." He commented on the being of pure darkness, which would be in the center of the open area where the four were, with chaos still occurring over Atlas's confrontation against Grimm's thousands, such an absurd amount that it made Yang wonder how it was possible that they could had such a rapid multiplication capacity. And it was then that she paid attention to the farthest horizon, noting gloomy portals as they opened into the air and made it possible for the creatures to pass through, which would make the lilac-eyed teeth grind in fury as she recharged Ember Celica immediately, with Neo putting the blade in her umbrella slowly, leaving the object locked in a position for imminent combat.

"Damn bastards ..." The older woman, who was slowly rising, muttered, trying to stop the bleeding she had gotten from Neopolitan, which was staring at her from afar, duly due to the event that had occurred moments before Yang had woken up, but it had been enough to make the bicolor wholly turn against the one it had as her last reliable resource.

"Should I work it out my way? Or do you want to keep catching up to these two?" Questioned the unknown figure, who received only a lethal glare from Cinder in response, already knowing what to do next.

Both would immediately advance toward their opponent, with Neo opting for the zigzag race to distract and confuse the enemy, while creating an illusion of her, to not be detected in the other's field of vision, thereby retracting the blade from the guard's umbrella and aiming to hit his right chest in a Tomboy movement. Yang, on the other hand, tried to fire numerous explosive projectiles from Ember Celica after reaching considerable proximity, leaping in the middle of a full swing to make a powerful punch with her right metal fist to destroy whatever the face was.

However, before even one of the girls could even touch him, they would feel an insanely strong pressure of air to suck back immediately, which would inevitably break the illusion of Neopolitan into a thousand pieces, thus trying to stay firmly on the ground as he went sticking the umbrella over the ground, with Yang not being so lucky, for it would almost be swallowed by something that could now be seen as some kind of portal, just like the ones bringing the Grimm to Atlas, her eyes widening when feeling the left arm being held by the last person on earth who would do something like this for her.

Once again, Neo was keeping her alive, using all the strength to hold her rival by the arm and trying to pull her close, and even as perplexed as the blonde was, she didn't hesitate to hold her hand tightly too. Trying hard not to let go.

A look between the two of them would take place in the process, with that same electric shock coursing through their bodies once more as they locked silently together, something that seemed to be minutes, but was a matter of a simple blink, the debris behind of Cinder being raised in the air and sucked together against both girls, who were not hit by them, but whose umbrella would then be torn from the ground, sending them into the total darkness present in the portal, which closed in a matter of nanoseconds after their passage through him, with the last image they saw of the new enemy waving in farewell, before everything turned to pitch black.

\--

When the portal finally opened again, the two of them collapsed at a high speed through the tall tree branches in that room, breaking several and tearing off numerous leaves, with these landing partially disoriented on the grassy ground, with Yang muttering in frustration at hitting her back with everything on the ground, while Neo would have managed to soften the fall by opening the umbrella, landing softly on the area and closing it slowly as she watched her surroundings as did Yang, who cracked the bones of the spine afterwards to get up immediately. The portal was gone, and as far as the blonde knew, they were far from where they should be.

"But what the hell? He sent us into the middle of nowhere!" Yang ran her hands through the own hair with immense rage, gripping the strands tightly and pulling, using such a sensation that she could burst to the tree trunk in front of him, using a right forearm blow laterally against it.

Neo narrowed her gaze as she noticed that it was a seemingly wild zone, then turned the attention to Yang and rolled her eyes to the side, shaking the head slightly in disbelief at her lack of calm, trying to call on her attention by simply touching the area of the left shoulder.

"Don't touch me!" She would immediately move away from the bicolor, with a distinctly serious and altered facial expression, pointing the left index finger toward the smaller one. "You... You helped her with all this! You wretch, I should have killed you in the first instant!"

The little girl would support the left hand at her own waist, raising an eyebrow doubtfully, then digging the umbrella into the ground and placing her right hand inside the uniform. By this time, Yang was ready for any kind of trick she might use, scowling before she saw her remove a Scroll from the garments, then quickly started typing on it and then showing her the screen.

[ But you didn't do it, nor would you, I know that. ]

The blonde would blink a few times before focusing attention on the face of the one she still considered the enemy, and she could notice Neo's countenance that she was no longer the same defiant or defiant one she had seen when they struggled a second time, as if she really was... Being honest with herself. But that didn't change the fact that they were both sworn to death.

"So you don't talk?" Yang raised his right eyebrow slightly, already calming the own tone and trying to keep herself under control, noticing a light, quiet sigh from Neo as she answered with the Scroll message.

[ Let's say no. ]

It was obvious to Huntresses that this was an internal matter for bicolor, so she simply decided not to dwell on that topic topic and go straight to the point that she was already bothering to try to theorize.

"Neo, why did you do that?" Yang questioned, placing both hands on his own waist and waiting for a truly convincing justification for why her near-murderer tried to keep her alive.

[I don't know what you are talking about. ]

"You do, and I want the truth. Why did you save me on those occasions?"

The bicolor would bite the bottom of her lip when she found herself in a blind alley, breathing deeply and sighing briefly, having nothing left to lose from the fact that they were completely lost, perhaps even on the other side of the planet.

A moment later the younger girl finished typing her answer, showing it to her rival shortly thereafter.

[ Because we need each other. That everything I thought about Cinder was definitely wrong. Even before you woke up from the blast, I could see her ally coming through the portals and wondering if we were dead ... She wanted to eliminate us, not just your friends, but me as well. ]

As she finished reading those words, the blonde's expression changed to complete confusion, trying to figure out why Cinder might leave the best body fighter she had aside.

"But... why would she do that?"

A few more quick digits later, the answer came like a bucket of cold water.

[She needed me to help disguise the ship, but it made no difference, as by the time we arrived, the military was already too busy with their own survival than checking the identity of the others. Plus, with my participation in the attack, it would be much easier for her to get Ruby to finish and get her head for the prize. Once I did that, I'd discard myself anyway, knowing I wouldn't help anything deeper than she's planning with Salem. ]

"Do you know who Salem is?"

[ I've think enough to know it's not something to be proud of. ]

The bigger one took a deep breath before she could process it all in her head, taking a few steps to the right and then speaking up about it.

"Look ... I need to find a way to find the others. But first, the priority is to find my own location. In this case, I'd better start now."

At this, the taller one would begin to walk through the tall vegetation, being faced by a Neo completely disbelieving in what she had just heard, so trying to follow her immediately as she typed, leaping over her and landing in front of her with the Scroll on. front of your face.

[ Only you? Are you kidding me? We're in this together now. ]

The Huntresses would run his left palm over his face, the wound no longer bleeding as much as before, sighing heavily before pronouncing.

"Neo, I appreciate you saving my life. But that doesn't change the fact that you almost killed me once, hurt my sister and tried to execute me hours ago, not to mention that you're still Torchwick's ally. That's reason enough." to want distance from you. "

Those words would make the bicolor look somewhat depressed when she had all those facts thrown at her once again, especially because she had to remember the redhead's death, looking away at her own feet before she started typing another word. once in his Scroll, then closing his eyes and opening them just by showing the message to his rival, his expression now serious and devoted to following her anyway.

[ I don't need your thanks, I did it because I really need you to get it over with. And I don't care what you think about me, you can judge me as much as you like, but one thing you can be sure of, this is a war you can't win alone. ]

As Yang's eyes roamed over those letters, she felt a great anger build inside her, but deciding to wait and see the other words Neo now typed immediately, showing her moments later as well.

[ If we combine our capabilities, there is not even a chance for Cinder to try to confront us. Before I was focused on revenge on your sister, but after all the confidence I had to place in vain on that woman, after being deceived in the most humiliating way, by recognizing whose fault it was... My target became her. And since she's with your friends, she's certainly your target too. ]

Noticing that the lilac-eyed one would finally finish reading her words, Neo would still be ready for her to convince her of what was so obvious. Both of them went through Hell that Cinder would have provided for they.

The damn follower of Salem was responsible for giving those orders to the bicolor and Roman to start the chaos in the midst of Beacon, which cost a great deal on both sides, since he was no longer right with Neo actually. The old duo were practically forced to work and pursue the desires of the power-crazed Sociopath, and no matter how much Torchwick wanted to move completely away from Beacon's criminal business to go to other Kingdoms to invest in other Black Market businesses, taking Neopolitan with him to never return, but it was too late to stop things getting out of control. All this because of that woman.

But what about Yang? Cinder had been the cause of the destruction of the only home in which the blonde was truly comfortable, where she had gone through countless adventures, confusion, and fumbling with her best friends, which meant just about everything to her, were her family. Because of the disaster she had organized in Beacon, she had to go through an extremely painful period of loss and separation on the part of many of the people who mattered to her when she became hopeless and almost into the deepest depression that would cost her entire life. In addition to being the main cause of their friends' physical and emotional pain, still feeling the despair of the hurt images of Blake, Weiss, and Ruby at the mercy of that humanoid demon. And for almost killing her through agonizing suffocation.

After long minutes of mental reflection between the two of them, who kept staring at each other with slow breaths and the painful memories they shared, finally Yang gave her answer.

"Okay... You can come with me. But know something, I'm not your friend. I don't like you at all. And I can't stand your presence. But I will make this effort solely and exclusively for my friends. And nothing more. " Yang kept an authoritative, direct tone to her voice, with the impact of the words not even noticeable from outside Neo, given the fact that she simply shrugged in total indifference, using the right hand to pick up the Scroll and type briefly once again.

[ The feeling is mutual. I will do this only for my revenge. ]

She made a point of making her intentions clear when it came to officializing the alliance she would be making with that girl, while smiling innocently at her, who snorted a little as well as annoyed at the younger one, passing her as she spoke one last time before they finally entered that forest.

"Let's go, before nightfall."

With a positive nod, Neo would keep her Scroll inside the right sleeve of the off-white jacket, following the blonde who would soon catch up with her walking pace, with them still silent with each other for the rest of the way, processing everything that had happened to both of them.

Yang for being on a team with a psychopathic Serial Killer who had tried to kill her several times in a row and served the interests of her biggest enemies. And Neo for wondering why, even though she didn't think so much about it, she was feeling a certain bad feeling as she recalled the words spoken harshly to herself, shaking her head slightly to try to move away from whatever that strange feeling was, focusing on her only main goal and how to achieve it successfully.

Cinder had signed her own death warrant.


	3. Disagreements

**_"Disagreements"_**

Exactly two hours had passed since the latest pair decided to set off on a walk toward some trace of civilization that might serve to take shelter at night that would not be long before they continued at this rate. Unlike Yang, the bicolor preferred to use tree-tops to look closely at the horizon to try to find what they were longing to find, but there was still no sign of urbanization for miles ahead, either because of the huge mountain range, because they disrupt the girl's vision, as well as the high vegetation present on the surfaces of such plants, sighing frustratedly before jumping off the surface of the branch and turning her body in the air, in a screw-like landing to the left side of the blonde, which she was more worried about Grimm's or any other kind of threat hidden amid the exaggeratedly disturbing silence, which plagued her greatly. The same could be seen on Neo's face, which crossed her arms at chest height while keeping the focus of her vision straight along the way.

It didn't take long for Yang, energetic and spontaneous as it always was, to end up withstanding such a monotonous and uncomfortable atmosphere, trying to turn the attention to Neopolitan by her side, coughing internally to successively attract attention from the little girl, who raised the right eyebrow at her, somewhat curious as to what the still rival had to say. Besides, a dialogue would not be bad at all, considering how much that lack of interaction between them was gradually making the bicolor completely insane.

"I know maybe I shouldn't even ask that, since it's not the most appropriate time, but ... Why did you do that to my sister? What motivation did you have with Cinder to do that?" Yang couldn't help it, letting her sharp anger clear through the tone of her voice, taking a deep breath and sighing briefly as she looked away from the younger one, who now stared at her with a rather wary expression about whether or not to touch the subject again, was something which she did not like to remember, but which constantly surfaced.

Her attention was immediately diverted to the Scroll, whose would pull from the inside of her jacket sleeve and then hurriedly type her answer. When she ended up showing it almost as instantly, Yang calmly read the words that were written by the rival.

[ When I met Cinder after all that she had put us through at Beacon, I confronted her hand-to-hand in the middle of a bar in a distant village. In the course of the fight, we both ended up stopping after she told me that it was Ruby's fault, that she had been Roman's killer... And due to the memories I already had of him and how much he hated her. I realized that it could possibly be true. So when she suggested teamwork to go after her, I wasted no time waiting. ]

Every detail fit perfectly into what the blonde was already seeing with the smallest details previously cited by the bicolor, before turning against her former partner, then seeing the situation in which Neo truly found herself. Like many, she was also manipulated by Cinder, only used as another puppet for the unhealthy plans that were probably even bolder in her mind as her thirst for power grew to destroy anyone who objected to her.

Neopolitan avoided direct eye contact with the other girl, preferring to set aside this sort of thing as she was about to put the Scroll back in her jacket, but the touch of the blonde's left middle and index fingers over her hand was enough to make her stop what she was doing. She couldn't help but be surprised at her attitude, watching her sideways, nodding with the head softly during the next words.

"Well, you weren't the only one to be fooled. We all were." Yang would then move the hand away from her, not wanting to cause any discomfort or to be evasive in any way, storing it in the front pocket of the shorts. The blonde was a little head down, kicking lightly at the boulders scattered along this naturally formed trail over time.

"Who was Roman to you anyway?" That became the question that mostly prowled the thoughts of the lilac-eyed one, who simply couldn't comprehend how anyone could even bear to look straight into the face of that damn redhead without vomiting for so many atrocities he had ever committed in his life.

Initially, the girl just stared in the opposite direction of the new teammate, with a facial expression that clearly showed the suffering she had to keep silent and the hatred that still ran through her heart when she had to touch that subject. Even if she wanted to leave Torchwick in peace, as he wanted so much before die, she couldn't keep her repressed feelings from getting out, but didn't even care that anyone but herself could see that.

However, contrary to the expectation of not being answered, Yang could hear the sound of the digital keyboard being pressed by the thumbs of the other girl, taking a matter of a few minutes to find herself staring at the Scroll screen once again, reading carefully what was quoted there.

[ He was the only person in this world who truly cared about me from start to the finish, no matter the circumstances, Roman always put me in the first of many things. It was thanks to him that I was taken off the streets, where I lived most of my life, who gave me a safe home, food, and especially affection. For the first time in my life... I knew the feeling of fraternally loving someone... He was like a father to me. ]

Yang was a little saddened to read her words, having no idea that the details of the personal life between Neo and Roman could be more complex than she had imagined, swallowing nervously as her own heart clenched with that kind of information for being passed on to herself.

"I'm sorry... As much as I hated this... If you don't mind me saying... Scumbag... At least one good thing he did in his life, was that he cared about someone besides himself." She tried to choose her words as delicately as possible, not wanting in any way to offend the apparently damaged feelings of the younger, feeling obliged to now look at her directly.

Neo had already hoped that the blonde would never see Torchwick the way she knew him, but it had become almost a custom among all those who were against the redhead's principles, since he was full of enemies. As much as the revolt in her heart was great and arduous to the point of wanting to respond unkindly to the insult she had heard there, at the same time she felt the sincerity that Yang had in the own words, something that for many times almost everyone missed as they learned of the true story beside the former criminal, letting a quick corner smile spring to her lips and slowly fade away shortly afterwards, sighing as she stared back at the taller, nodding in acceptance her speech, leaving the teammate considerably relieved to herself.

"I know how painful it is to lose someone like that. In fact, to lose several people." Yang looked away once more, the facial expression shrouded in a certain melancholy as she remembered what had happened to herself during all those years.

Neo raised an eyebrow doubtfully about what the blonde meant, but it was just a matter of keeping the attention on her eyes to realize the hurt she carried, something even unusual in the bicolor's opinion. The rival was trying to stay so strong on the outside, but on the inside, it was obvious how broken she felt, the need to get better and better, so that she might be able to overcome the events in her past that had plagued her so far. The bicolor was somewhat intrigued by the words of the other girl, trying to type a little into the Scroll and then showing to the taller one.

[ What kinds of people were these? ]

Yang feared that she would question about having to go deeper with the rival, placing both hands inside the front pockets of the shorts, lifting the head as she continued the dialogue.

"Most were the ones I swore to protect until the end. And those who took the same oath, but also failed."

A few slow digits were made by the smallest one, who glanced sideways at the blonde who kept her eyes closed with a neutral facial expression, as her breathing rate deepened and slowed, with the frustrating sensation that had to show through of her presential energy, with Neo being able to absorb the same kind of sadness just by having to see the current situation of her rival and teammate.

[ Why did this all happen? ]

Yang shook her head slowly, snorting rather thoughtfully.

"Since I was little, I had to learn to deal with the harsh reality that I didn't have a mother who really cared about me, and as all that chaos quietly stalked Beacon, I gradually lost many people that I wasn't capable of protecting... My task was this, to keep everyone together, but I failed..." The blonde would clench her fists tightly as she paused at the walking pace they were both doing, momentarily head down, taking a deep breath to catch herself to calm down. She didn't want the girl who almost killed her to see how vulnerable she was still inside.

However, the little girl understood perfectly the emotional message expressed by the larger one, stopping also in front of her and sighing briefly to try to remove that anguish when having to hear the reports of her, for the first time in her life really showing interest in the life of another person without being her own. Worse, Neo consciously lamented for Yang.

Still persistent in finding a way to learn more about the hurts that were so negative inside the teammate, the bicolor wasted no time typing immediately on the Scroll.

[ No one can predict or shape fate, blonde. ]

"That's where you make a mistake, I could have tried harder, even if I had to go beyond my limits. I had the opportunity to help everyone at the crucial moments, but the truth is that I wasn't strong enough, I was just a dead weight... Even more after that."

The lilac-eyed woman would immediately raise her robotic right arm, squeezing her eyes shut tightly and lifting her head slowly, gradually relaxing her body muscles as she kept herself in control of her own impulsive attitudes.

Neo then stared at the severed and replaced part of combat technology for a few moments, turning the attention to Yang, and, incredible as it might seem, having to witness how upset she was, caused her a strange sense of discomfort in the psychological itself.

A few digits later with the right hand, Neo showed the next question...

[ What happened...? ]

"Adam Taurus ... That's what happened. And to me, this is no longer important."

[ Hiding what you truly feel is never a good thing, blonde. ]

"And so is having to share this with the person who helped in the process of leaving me just as I am now!"

Yang's final sentence silenced Neo's fingers immediately, her tone changing from stable to nervous and altered, her eyes slightly teary as she looked at the younger girl. The Serial Killer was a little surprised to focus her attention on this girl so mature, but utterly destroyed in her own heart and soul. That made the smaller one lower the Scroll slowly.

"I really am a complete idiot for even saying this to you... It's amazing how my own mistakes lead me direct to my stupidest attitudes." Yang gritted her teeth in high stress with that mix of emotions she had to endure so far. The immense worry growing inside her with each passing minute as she tried to imagine what her friends and family would be like at the moment. The fear of imagining never seeing them again. Anger at having to be psychologically desperate to the point where she was talking about her failure with the one she hated most. And worst of all... For not wanting to hate her.

The blonde's red eyes would make Neopolitan's slender body shiver discreetly as she saw the fury she was racking with herself, even though the blonde wasn't using the Semblance. The youngest could sense the imminent danger that was characteristic of the rival, with her fast, hot breathing rhythm making her realize that this matter should not be brought to light by herself.

As much as the Serial Killer was limited to not admitting it out loud, she felt sorry for the blonde's current situation. The whole process of abandonment, helplessness, guilt, and suffering very much resembled all that Neo had to endure in her own past, before she had even met Roman, had gone through unspeakable and disturbing things that served as a reminder of what she was and for what she was porpouse created by fate.

However, as much as Yang's circumstances were not drastic to Neopolitan's point, the sense of continual rejection and abandonment that the major had to go through, really stirred some of Neo's concepts about the blonde, beginning to see the girl as herself in the past, lost in her own fears and constantly laid down with a guilt that was never her own.

That brief and hostile dialogue was enough to bring complete silence into the atmosphere they both shared with each other, with Yang's eyes turning lilac as her facial expression shifted from angry to frightened by her own actions. She had realized that she was losing control of her temper. She ran the right hand through the hair, before look away from Neopolitan's and continue walking without another word.

Neo would stay in the same spot for a few more seconds as she watched the blonde gradually drift away, but then slowly but then slowing the steps, turning the head to the left and nodding over her shoulder to the left side, still clearly shaken, but trying to wipe the tears with the palms of her hands and wait for the inevitable teammate to accompany the tallest one.

That attitude shocked Neo, no matter how much pain and grudge Yang still held with her, she was willing to have Serial Killer around, even if it meant a total lack of interaction between them. In response to the larger one act, the little girl would nod slightly in agreement with her head, starting her own walk to the blonde, who would follow the path after she was reached by her, with the sun gradually fading over the horizon as dark clouds washed over the heaven, that would have been a complicated night for the unstable alliance duo so far.

\--

Even though it was predicted by Neo since the appearance of the horizon changed rapidly from clear blue to dark cloudy, followed by the fall of thousands of drops of icy water falling over the area continuously, with the bicolor being with the umbrella open above her own body, absorbing the slight impacts on its surface, while the blonde kept moving on trying to completely ignore the fact that she was being punished by the forces of nature that cruelly combined the freezing wind with the falling liquid about herself, having a pretty boring facial expression because of that. It was obvious to Neopolitan what Yang was trying to do, to maintain a strong stance amid all the chaos that was taking place inside her.

She sighed lightly as her boots trailed the newly formed mud beneath her feet as she watched the older girl brush the branches in front of her violently and tear the vegetation along the roots to make way, and break some tree trunks for perhaps thus to unload the revolt she felt, but it was no use at all.

As much as the Huntresses had no intention of communicating verbally with the younger girl, it didn't stop Neo's unexpected attitude of quietly approaching her partner and placing the umbrella above both of them, which action would make the taller one slow down immediately by turning her attention to the bicolor. Serial Killer's facial expression was neutral and serene, having her body at a considerable distance from that of her teammate, who would blink a few times before closing her eyes and huffing as she understood what that meant. She was being warned that she was losing focus on the current situation, they couldn't keep walking aimlessly through that forest, they needed a place to spend the night, which was almost coming with the sunset farther away.

Still a little confused by all this, the blonde would nod in agreement to Neo, a form of thanks for her accomplishment, which in response would let an innocent corner smile well up on her delicate lips, with the descendant Xiao Long trying to think about it, stopping the walk they were making and formulating a plan in her mind.

After a few minutes, she would finally come to a conclusion, looking toward the various trees around they, taking a deep breath before snapping the sides of her own neck and slamming both fists together.

"I think it's time to put your cutting skills to something more productive."

She declared, making the bicolor let out a silent laugh on her lips briefly, already retracting the sharp end of her own umbrella and knowing that with that slightest gesture of help to the larger one, things were no longer going out of control like before.

\--

It had only been an hour before everything was definitely ready for both of the girls, who had to work hard and in a team to build a temporary shelter on the floor of the clearing in which they were located. The floor was covered with several flat pieces of thinly cut half-timbered trunks to serve as a resting area, the surrounding area being lined with partially whole trunks, with their heights adequate enough to support both of them standing, with the walls being reinforced by thick barks torn by Yang from some of the oaks, both inside and out. The ceiling contained the other halves of the side trunks, lying with the inner side facing down, tied against some roots by Neo.

In order to cover the entrance to the small dome, they had to use the leaves of the branches of some pines, enough to nullify the strong wind that lay outside, perfect to be able to keep the fire flame present in the center of the area lit. Originated by a firing with Yang's use of Ember Celica, the fire spread through the smallest pieces of firewood spread over a smooth stone, wrapped in considerably large and and circulated by others to prevent any spark from coming into contact with the woody material of the shelter, with the blonde trying to warm up immediately, when she was very close to the temperature normalization feature, as she was soaked with rainwater, unlike Neo, who had the umbrella in her favor, now closed to side of herself.

As she watched the beautiful movements of the flames along with Yang, the smaller one inevitably directed her own gaze toward the girl in front of her, with the minimally bright light provided by the bonfire blazing over the still rival's face, which had a special twinkle in her eyes, only now noticed by the bicolor that stopped to pay better attention to such a foreign characteristic, and had to admit... The girl was incredibly beautiful, exuding a wild air that her personality and manner created mutually for herself, something fascinating in the eyes of the one who had never witnessed such a thing in her life before. Her determination, courage, and willpower were unmatched by anything she had ever seen.

Yang really was full of secret tips that interested Neo in a very large proportion, and she couldn't help but smile as contentedly as she could, but soon crumbled to feel her own face flush hard with the look of both coming to crash without any kind of notice. That electric current they had shared since the reunion of both parties came back into existence between them, the bicolor swallowing hard before diverting attention immediately to the side, while Xiao Long's expression gradually reddened more, returning to face the fire somewhat ashamed of herself in that situation.

Not wanting to make things worse or to make the environment unpleasant in any way, Neopolitan then prepared to lie down on the right side of their makeshift shelter, comforting herself closely with the umbrella that would serve as her pillow, as it would remain. Lying there laterally, with her back to Yang, who would look down as she thought to herself for a moment.

And then, to the surprise of the bicolor, she could feel something warm and even a little big than she being deposited above her own body, opening the eyes before closed and seeing herself with the blonde's jacket over her, which surprised the smallest one somewhat. Seeing the rival lying on her back on the opposite side, apparently already almost asleep, so deciding not to intervene in the process.

Only then would Neo understand the message, that was a retribution and, at the same time, a sign that the older one cared about the girl's health. At the thought of the possibility, the little one felt her cheeks sting again, trying to lie down again and clinging tightly to the jacket to try to push those strange sensations away from her as soon as possible, not long before her face returned to temperature and appearance normal.

Before closing her eyes, she would turn the attention over the left shoulder to see the girl next to her, already in deep sleep, due to their imminent exhaustion after all.

_Thanks..._

She would think through a soft sigh and a clear facial expression thanking her for the feat, returning to her normal position and closing her eyes slowly, bringing the collar of the jacket to her own nostrils and inhaling the scent she had so pleasantly, laughing briefly before comforting herself better beneath the garment, then being distanced from the real world and beginning her journey by the own thoughts.

Yang really had a great heart... And that made Neo wonder why it affected the her so much.


	4. Mistral

**_"Mistral"_**

The next day was characterized by the strong rays of the sun, that covered the vast horizon that the duo had to face as they left well into the morning to continue their journey through the mountainous forest there, with Yang now dressing once again her jacket that had served as a blanket for the little one during the stormy night they had to confront, yet the presence of some mud was still noticeable as they made their footsteps along the earth-based nature trail.

The blonde could still remember the unusual sight she'd had when she woke up hours ago, having prepared to wake the bicolor, which took several minutes properly to the fact that she was sleeping so... Angelically. Not even the sound of someone else's breathing could be heard, the peaceful way in which she rested beneath the jacket, cringing to get even closer to the garment, made a strange sensation run through Huntresses's body. Her heartbeat accelerated to an indescribable point, not to mention how flushed she had been at the time, and it was only then, at that moment, that she decided to arouse her teammate.

Yang still felt a little bewildered and confused about everything she was feeling at the same time, with the union with the rival making her rethink a little about what she saw in her. Particularly, she still couldn't get used to her presence, because whenever she looked at Yang even the slightest, the image of her near death came to light in the midst of that train, where she suffered the greatest humiliation of her life, where she recognized that she did not have the capacity to protect herself. A shiver ran down her body as she slid down a small muddy ravine ahead of them, down to the most solid, dusty bottom, continuing at the same pace, still thoughtful in a way.

She shifted the attention discreetly to the bicolor, who had hitherto been accompanying her in constant silence, even in her own gestures, carrying the umbrella over the shoulders and grasping the object with the use of both forearms, resting them somewhat firmly over the cable. Of course it didn't take much more than a few seconds for the younger to notice the blonde's remark, meeting her gaze steadily as she let an innocent smile take over her lips, followed by a quick wink to the Huntresses, who for a moment turned the attention forward once more to prevent her embarrassment from being clear on the face.

The sudden act on the part of the lilac-eyed would make the little girl let a brief silent laugh escape the own lips, shaking her head slightly to the side with how easy it was to get the taller one aimlessly. However, she couldn't help feeling a little odd about those constant glances from her, a kind of bearable burning that was momentarily rising inside her chest, even more as she remembered her unusual gesture last night with her, the scent of the natural perfume on the blonde's jacket was still impregnated on Neo's clothes, which made her sigh pleasantly.

A few more minutes passed with these having to go through diverse obstacles provided by the wild nature, such as fallen trunks midway, duly in the strong wind of the previous storm. The large pools of dirty water in the center of the trail, making them have to change the course a bit. Beyond so many leaves that were taking over most of the way, with Neo preferring to go ahead while removing the handle blade from the umbrella and twirling it between her right hand fingers, before then starting to shred every minute a piece of the plants that were disturbing her vision and the passage for the young girl.

However, after a few seconds, the bicolor could feel a soft touch on her left shoulder, which made her stop what she was doing and turn her attention back, and could then come across a Yang whose facial expression was somewhat nervous, lightly biting the corner of her lower lip, bringing her available hand behind her head and fussing with her hair continuously, keeping the gaze down until then.

"Neo, I... I wanted to apologize for... For yesterday... I just lost control by saying all that to you..."

The lower would be slightly surprised by the words of the other girl, both because she was still giving importance to it, and also because she felt the duty to pay due regrets. She would fully face her, watching her closely, even though she was still without any direct eye contact with Neo. The youngest had to admit that inside, she felt that burning feeling return with a squeeze where her heart would be, but she tried her best to keep it suppressed only to herself.

"As much as we have many differences, and as much as I try not to think about being enemies... Now we are a team, and besides, we need to stay together, regardless of what happened between us before that. So... We will continue our goals without further conflict, I guarantee that."

Hearing those words was almost like a tune to the younger girl's ears as she stared intently at the blonde in front of her in pure silence, both arms folded at her bust, silently reflecting on all that she had said to Neo.

"But that doesn't change the fact that I still don't forgive you for everything... I'm far from it..."

It was at this time that the little one would arch her right eyebrow in total disbelief at the words from the other girl, her expression somewhat disbelieving that Yang was still bringing those memories to light between the pair, with the bicolor opening her mouth briefly to perhaps say something, but closing it immediately as she held her Scroll in her left hand and typed the answer, then introduced it to the partner.

[ I don't need your forgiveness. After all, I did nothing wrong, and your excuses can be set aside. ]

Those words crushed Yang's brain like a heap of bricks for being dumped into her own consciousness, seeing that Neo clearly had no trace of regret about the past deeds, or at least wouldn't admit it to herself anytime soon. A heavy sigh had been expelled from the Huntresses' lips, which then lifted her head to continue the path as she went straight through Neo, and is now in charge of making her way through the forest to them.

The little girl silently watched the teammate pass by, with no single remaining statement on the subject, uncrossing her own arms as she shifted her attention to her own hands, gently clenching her fists as she rethought what Yang had said, words that externally semeed had not affected her at all, but deep within herself were totally turning her emotions around, with the pain in the own heart returning momentarily as she frowned slightly, placing the right palm over the left chest and taking some deep breaths, before then following the taller one with a distinctly depressed facial face as she had to face the fact that, admitting or not to the blonde, she felt guilty and, even more, sorry for the way she responded to her.

As Neo followed Yang footsteps, she thought to herself about maybe going back with her own impulsive attitude from before, but now was definitely not the time for that. Neo had already made the mistake of the day, did not want to cause another, so the solution was to remain neutral externally to continue the journey.

And it was then that, in a matter of about 40 minutes amidst the pure advancement in the midst of that forest, being guided by the growing sunlight as they removed all of these plants from the path, the pair would find themselves in the middle of the near edge from a huge cliff, that would give a view of the entire beautiful horizon beyond, which was filled by a vast serpentine river that was connected to a considerably large waterfall that jutted out between the rocks of the space between the two huge mountains farther away, whose surface had remarkable Japanese-style structures from the smallest terrain to the top, being quite vast in relief. Farther down the cliff, there were a few more forest spots for them to cross until they reached the urbanized region, which Yang immediately recognized, closing both eyes as she felt the refreshing breeze coming in contact with the own body.

"Well, looks like we're not lost anymore."

She would finally open her eyes, turning to look still saddened by the way Neo made it clear about not except the goal of revenge. But even if not demonstrating, Neo stared back as she lowered her eyebrows a little, the pain present in Yang's face being enough to make the guilt grow inside the little one, but with the taller immediately diverting her attention back to the newest place to arrive as soon as possible.

"Mistral, there we go."

\--

As soon as they entered the Kingdom, it was already evident to Yang that after Leo's alleged "disappearance", Mistral was going through a troubled state of government change after the whole White Fang scandal was put in the newspapers that they even flew the streets through which both young women crossed. The population apparently seemed to be getting used to this string of terrible catastrophes spreading across the continents since the Beacon disaster, which was the first terrorist attack in decades past.

As Neo walked beside the blonde, she watched the surroundings around they, noting how vast the amount of tall buildings and dwellings there were, and what the lower parts of the structures suggested, these were newly made works, something that It raised her eyebrow slightly, somewhat puzzled. Then she would look forward again, her attention going to the teammate, biting the lower lip as she tried to imagine what Yang might be feeling after their brief, unfriendly dialogue.

However, this did not prevent the bicolor from drawing the attention to the other girl by gently touching the left index finger on her right arm, which immediately turned its head to it.

"Yes, Neo?"

The little one would remove the Scroll from the sleeve of her white jacket, typing with the free right hand.

[ Did you notice this much of buildings and crowded people? ]

"Now that you've broached the subject... In fact, it's kind of sudden. As far as I know, there weren't that many locals."

She would narrow her gaze to the surroundings, somewhat suspicious.

[ I think this may be linked to everything that happened in Atlas. I don't know anyone here, but I can tell who is or isn't from a particular Kingdom. ]

Both then crossed the bridge in the center of the cliff that existed between the path of the long lower river, and the steady waterfall through the waterfall to their left.

Yang stopped the walking pace with the partner's words, looking at the rest of the Kingdom's length, which, compared to the last time she had been there, became much more populous, not to mention the lack of space for much of the crowd and the trades that shared space through the streets.

Neo then began to search for something in her Scroll, taking advantage of the altitude at which they were, and where there would probably be better signal connection conditions, with a corner smile on her lips as she got it right with her own intuition, but finding it the results of the search have completely broken up.

"What's up, Neo? Something wrong?"

Yang questioned, just as she could see the sudden change in Neo's expression, with the answer coming only after the display of the full screen of the device was shown, which consisted of a virtual news article by the television team most viewed by most kingdoms.

( In this Wednesday morning, a terrible mass destruction was confirmed throughout Atlas, which was unexpectedly brutally attacked by countless Grimm's, decimating many of the Atlesian forces who fought bravely to protect their own home. Unfortunately, we lost contact with our ground sources for hours, and additional information is completely scarce due to the fact that the four Kingdoms are not communicating with each other until the replacement of the destroyed antennae at Beacon and Atlas. The Council is planning what approach will be needed to make it possible to enter Atlas once again and rescue the refugee military from some underground instalation. Survivors in large numbers of Atlas were rescued by the special forces previously sent by Mistral, who made them stay in the kingdom until everything is resolved. )

As Yang finished reading the article, the immense hatred run through her body as she looked away from the screen, gripping her hair with both hands and pinching the strands between the fingers, in addition to the fist as a whole, puffing extremely altered, gritting her teeth tightly.

"I can't stand it! I can't stand spending another second not knowing if my own sister and friends are alive! And worse, I'm on another continent!"

At that moment, Yang would feel a delicate touch on the right hand, turning her head sharply to the side, facing a Neopolitan who was looking at her as sadly as the larger one was already inside, caressing the surface of the fingers of the blonde with the thumb. Yang felt her hot breath slowly begin to slow, while her so aggressive facial expression gradually calmed down as she felt Neo's soft grip around her hand, which made her face the area in silence, with some doubt about the meaning of that. After all, they were only united for similar purposes, and the Serial Killer made a point of rubbing it in Yang's face, about only caring for her own revenge, nothing more than that.

Or was it possible that deep within that dark and sadistic personality there was a good side, a really human side and sorry for their own deeds? For some reason, it was a possibility the blonde practically begged fate to be true.

After finally noticing that Yang had calmed her spirits, Neo sighed with relief before showing her Scroll screen to this one.

[ I know what you're feeling, and I hate to even imagine myself being in your shoes, but not as much as having to see you in this state. We may have started the wrong way with the wrong words, but you must believe me when I tell you that we will meet your friends and family, I am sure we will make it happen. We're in this together, Yang... But panic will only make things worse, we must be strong. ]

"But, Neo... After all... Why...?"

[Look, Yang. We have a lot of pending issues with each other, but since I found you, I could see that you are much stronger, not only in the matter of body combat, but mentally. As much as I know only partially about what happened to you, I'm sure you had to put up with a lot of things... I dare to deduce that worse than this... That's why I'm sure you can get around by up on that. ]

The Huntresses would be utterly speechless after reading what the little girl had written, taking her eyes off the Scroll screen and focusing directly deep in Neo's eyes, that locked on hers almost instantly, with both of them firmly uniting together both palms in a gentle squeeze that demonstrated Neo's understanding and encouragement, their cheeks blushing gradually in sync. It was just a matter of noticing the temperature of their faces and then disconnecting from that inexplicably strong connection they had with each other, with the first thing they came to realize was that they still had their hands together, which only strengthened the blush, with the both sides by releasing them quickly and avoiding direct eye contact desperately, but discreetly, such as Yang who covered the side of her face with the left palm open, while Neo simply let the strands of her own hair do the work of hide the remnants of impending shame.

"T-Thank you so much... N-Neo... That means more than you can imagine."

Finally the taller one would utter after the unexpected event and to some extent impact on herself, and could not help but stutter a little at the beginning of her pronunciation of such words.

It wasn't long before Neo typed in her answer, still too embarrassed by the own attitude to be face to face with the other girl. Why the hell had she done that, anyway? Why did she feel the indomitable urge to give Yang emotional support? Why did seeing Yang sad that way affect the Serial Killer? Why was all this happening?

There were so many questions, but answers that Neo had no idea how to formulate in her own mind.

[ You can count on me, blonde. ]

She would let a faint smile appear on her delicate lips as she managed to shake away those confusing senseless sensations away from herself, receiving a positive nod from Yang, who returned the gesture before shifting the attention to the beautiful landscape of the beginning of that one sunset, due to the fact that they spent practically the morning and afternoon all walking their way to a truly safe place.

Just after a few minutes, Yang sighed somewhat relieved, then turned to look at Neo and nodded to where the biggest mountain area would be where the apparent hotels were. Neo got the message immediately, knowing that, just like herself, the other girl didn't like the idea of having to sleep yet again in the middle of a dark and cold forest.

"Come on, I can't wait for a hot bath. And eat something truly enjoyable."

Yang would laugh at her before moving away from the edge of that bridge, with Neo's angle of view perfect for enjoying the quick glimpse of the blonde's golden hair shimmered as it moved in the curt, medium-strong breeze, which would have left it behind. Neo gaped a little until she noticed Yang's movement, thus blinking a few times before her lips parted and regained her composure, fortunately not having had the attitude noticed by the teammate, trying to follow Yang side by side in sequence.

In Neo's eyes, things were starting to really get better between the two. And for Yang, it was good to know that at least there was still someone who was willing to be with her in this troubling situation, whose best she tried to soften her own thoughts with every step she took.

Neo was, in fact, more than the eyes could see.

Finding an affordable hotel had not been so difficult for both of them, apart from the fact that they had to climb the mountain trails much further to find the ideal building, as the others were well overcrowded with the refugees.from Atlas and some other daily visitors.

The landscape there was great, and you could see the partly broken moon hovering over the vastness of the forest farther off the night horizon and somewhat starry, with few clouds moving slowly above the region. Right on the porch, it was almost like a cabin of natural splendor, which could also be enjoyed from the kitchen, in which Yang would be putting her culinary skills into practice by carefully breaking some eggshells and letting them fall down over the surface of the frying pan, followed by a beaten mix between steak and some minced tomatoes by herself, pouring such after a few minutes over the already fried eggs and waiting until the warm up did its job, while also solidifying her latest original recipe, consisting of a breaded steak with fried eggs mixed as a stuffing itself, which fully occupied the inside of the pan in a short time.

Meanwhile, Neo was about to watch Yang's actions closely, tilting her head slightly to the side as she listened to the soft whistle that was produced between the blonde's lips, which inevitably infected the younger girl with a brief, quiet laugh, with own hands below her chin, resting the elbows on the table surface, which was positioned in the center of the area.

Since their earlier dialogue, the atmosphere between them was much more peaceful than when they had begun, not to mention the fact that they were communicating even more in a matter of two days. However, that was not all that was beginning to change, as Neo, since meeting the lilac-eyed one, began to experience emotions completely different from her usual, acting differently involuntarily, with strong sensations making their presence felt. all the actions she and the blonde performed. Neo was practically breaking her own mind to try to recompose the previous personality entirely, but every second that passed near Yang, that messed with her in some way... And what bothered Neo most, was the fact that she didn't know why be going through such a situation.

"Can you cook, Neo?"

The questioning from the blonde would draw the little girl out of her own thoughts by blinking a few times, then trying to type in the Scroll and show it to Yang.

[ I had no chance, I spent a lot of time on the streets looking for food to find out if the taste was at least pleasant. ]

At the end of the reading, Yang would be somewhat bewildered by the answer, swallowing hard as she nodded, already trying to serve their meal on the two plates already placed on the table by Neo, such as simple cutlery and napkins.

[ But and you? How did you learn to cook? ]

"Well, let's say it's an advantage of the days alone at home. Not to mention that when I was a kid, I had to learn to not leave Ruby with nothing to eat either, our mother's departure affected our father a lot."

Yang sat quietly on the chair opposite the table, facing the little one, picking up her cutlery and starting to cut a few pieces for herself, with the yolks in the stuffing slowly leaking through the openings in the flesh.

[ You really must be a great sister. Ruby is lucky. ]

A characteristic smile from Neo would make it present on her lips after seeing the gesture being returned by the blonde, who had already read the whole message with some surprise that the partner had that opinion about herself.

"Thank you, I do whatever it takes to see her and the rest of those I love safely..."

[You're still thinking a lot about what might have happened in those 48 hours, aren't you? ]

"It's inevitable ... I feel so helpless, I don't even know where to start."

A few minutes of silence was present in the ambient, with Yang poking at the sliced flesh, using the simple fork in the right hand, slightly downcast as she had to re-theorize what everyone else must be going through such a moment while she was there, lost and confused.

Neo would now have a thoughtful facial expression as she focused on the blonde's face, letting out a light sigh before continuing the dialogue.

[ First of all, we will have to go after information. And since I'm not able to trust anyone in particular, we should go to a public source. ]

Wasn't she able to trust anyone? Didn't Neo really trust her own partner? That was one of the most circulating questions around Yang's mind, which looked closely at Neo's gaze as she lifted the own head appropriately.

"A library, I assume."

[ Exactly. However, it isn't available at this time, better rest and visit in the morning. ]

"Okay, we'll do that..."

Before that both of them focused again on the meal prepared by the blonde, she tried to open a mouth to serve her mind, but the slow process of deducing what was done was still the best time to touch on that topic.

Thus, Neo then has a forkful of meat made by Yang, taking a brief bite and chewing slowly to taste the flavors, swallowing minutes later and already typing in the Scroll. Yang is still anxious, especially with the neutral expression of the partner.

But then finally Neo showed the screen to her.

[ I want three or four more repetitions after this one. ]

And with Neopolitan's innocent smile, Yang could not avoid to let out a sweet and pleasant laugh, that would be an angelic tune in the ears of the little girl, which could not prevent a brief blush from crossing her face discreetly.

In fact, Neo wasn't as bad as the blonde thought... But the hurts of the past were far from gone.


	5. In Search For Information

**_"In Search of Information"_**

Early in the morning, the pair wasted no time getting ready at the hotel for a visit to the Mistral library, which was just a few more climbs through the Kingdom, which was not at all tiring as the journey was so long, laid back by Yang who couldn't even notice the distance they had traveled.

Neo had to admit, her partner's jokes were far more unusual and creative than she had thought, so she couldn't help but let out brief silent laughs that were covered by the palms of hands as she couldn't control herself properly, but obviously didn't want to make it clear that this was so much fun, Neo wanted to keep her characteristically firm and neutral stance, but with the blonde's presence, that had become an almost impossible task.

The little girl didn't understand the signs that her own mind was sending her so suddenly, she had no idea what that strange feeling was that sent a shiver through her body every time her gaze met with Yang's, the feeling of butterflies in her belly just because of their proximity, the overwhelming concern that arose over her every time the Huntresses were emotionally shaken, and especially the growing pain in her chest every time she remembered of the fact that she almost killed her. It was so strange to go through it all, it had happened so fast since they met again, there was something very strange about developing in Neo's mind, and it was making her almost totally mad to have to go deeper into the subject, which constantly made her blush involuntarily.

At the same time it was all embarrassing in her head, Neo was also starting to worry about the current state of friendships and the blonde's family, since it was the main reason for Yang's sadness since it all happened. The little girl understood perfectly well what Yang was about having to endure inside herself, trying to ignore with good expectations that everyone was fine right now, that they were still alive, and Neo really wished her own optimism would not let her in such things. After all, now Yang had only the girl who tried to kill her, and vice versa, it was a reality they had to accept, however hard.

Under individual circumstances, the conclusion was certain that the Huntresses would not have the slightest chance to go through this alone, would be completely disoriented and without any hope left in her soul. It touched deep inside Neo, for just imagining her partner having to endure more pain than she had to accumulate for so long made her feel bored and disgusted with fate.

In these three days in which she spent in Yang's company, it was evident to Neo that she had deserved absolutely nothing from what happened in her life, not to mention the weight of the overwhelming guilt she had to carry constantly, a guilt that belonged to other people. She couldn't, under any circumstances, let her partner experience this kind of thing once again, as it would not only completely destroy her, but would also make Neo feel desolate.

Why would Neo look like this? Well... Not even the little girl had an answer. And that was what bothered her most.

"Neo...? Neo? NEO!"

Yang's constant calls finally aroused Neo from her own lofty thoughts that had manifested since they entered Mistral's library, having the little girl blink a few times before truly waking up, noticing the blonde next to her as soon as she turned the head toward Yang, trying as hard as she could to keep a strong flush from taking over her face at such an angle... So precious of the upper bust of the tallest girl, swallowing hard before diverting attention to her Scroll and typing in this one at incredible speed with both hands, showing to the partner without eye contact temporarily.

[ I'm sorry, I just got distracted. What were you saying? ]

Yang arched her right eyebrow in some curiosity, due to the rather strange way of acting on the part of the bicolor, but deciding to set it aside before removing the book she was hiding behind the own waist, using the left hand that held it, letting it go of the object rests gently on the table in front of Neo.

"Bingo! I found exactly what we needed."

Neo peered at the cover of the book closely, her face slightly on the verge of normal temperature and color. It read "Dark Magic: Legends and Miths".

That got a lot of attention from the little girl, who wasted no time using her right hand to type in her Scroll, daring just to squint at the blonde, but still being too embarrassed internally with herself, showing the screen to the partner.

[ What is your purpose doing a research in this book? ]

"Well, as far as I and you know, Cinder got a pretty hard support for both of us to deal with, which in this case would be that mysterious guy following her. And since his aura was so... Strangely negative... I decided that we'd better start by studying what we're going to deal with if we go after them both."

Neo had to agree, that was the best step to take before deciding any other points or routes that might be definitive for the journey they were beginning, they needed to know what was the imminent danger that separated them from the same goal: annihilate Cinder Fall. By the time she had seen that humanoid creature on the battlefield, the little girl was already pretty sure he wasn't an ordinary being, so little a fusion involving Grimm's, that vast power was unbelievably beyond anything she'd ever witnessed before in her life, a monster whose aura was so heavy it had made it difficult even to move the two girls in the initial confrontation with him, which was unfortunately a sheer waste of time. It was amazing how damn Cinder had so many bastards to defend her.

[ Strongly agree, we should not waste time. If we have to cross our paths with that thing once again, we'd better be ready. ]

Yang nodded, heading over to Neo's chair, sitting slowly and then getting a little too close to what was expected to be done, touching both shoulders involuntarily, the two parts were a little ashamed of each other, moving slightly apart and the Huntresses clutching the back of the neck with the right hand, coughing inwardly to remove the silence that had settled there, while Neo gently positioned her left hand over the place touched by the blonde's body, with her heart racing extremely without even knowing why, moving the palm away from the region as the partner's attention had once again shifted to the shorter girl.

"G-Good... E-Err... I-I think I better read..."

She stammered a little nervously at the mood that settled between them, swallowing hard before moving her head as evenly as possible so she could read the page that would be turned by Neo, with both helping each other respectively, and it was inevitable that the blonde every once in a while she squinted at the whose double-colored hair girl was so close... Exuding a scent so impressively sweet and pleasant... But not as much as who wore it...

_Wait, what?_

Thought the Huntresses in astonishment at herself, her eyes widening slightly as her chest gradually warmed and a few drops of cold sweat dripping slowly down the sides of her forehead, amazed and distressed by what her mind was doing to the girl. But wasn't that the truth? Honestly, Yang was really feeling good about Neo's presence, no matter how much earlier they had started with each other. However, her brain soon made a point of bringing out the fact that, as much as she was helping her now, nothing would change what the Serial Killer has done in the past, which almost caused Yang and her family a unbelivable pain.

She was completely confused at the moment, and at the same time worried about where these things might go.

[ Earth for blonde, anyone there? We have a book to read. ]

It was just a matter of a few light nudges over his right shoulder to rouse Xiao Long from her emotional trance, shaking the head briefly and seeing Neo's Scroll screen, almost glued to her eyes to try to get Yang back to reality. She might be a little embarrassed about it, flushing slightly before resuming the composure quickly and trying to remain serious, which required a great deal of effort.

"Oh yes... Of course, sorry. Let's get started."

And so, a relentless search began for any kind of response that was relevant to the pair's eyes, who not only had to face the terrible boredom, but the painful mysterious feeling they shared within.

The time spent searching for any kind of minimally factual things stretched as they wasted time having to carefully review each page so as not to miss any useful details, but in this case, it was quite the opposite. There was nothing there in connection with the dark being they had confronted in Atlas, that book seemed more to be just tales of fake horror stories.

Yang was already impatient as she silently read all those things she thought might be useful in the future, but that wasn't the case, they were doing it all for nothing. Her desire was to destroy that book with one shot using Ember Celica, but she couldn't do so much to keep herself in check, as well as not having to pay for injury on the library.

Neo sighed slightly before she was about to close the object, as she, like her partner, could no longer bear to focus on something that wasn't worth it, but that was before her eyes captured the image of a male figure on the next page, which she definitely stopped for then had time to write in the Scroll and show Yang.

[ See what I found, blonde! ]

The Huntresses would blink a few times before aiming at the cited page, in which there was an illustration of a humanoid being with demonic features and a body completely darkened, with a vast shadow surrounding the scene, which made the girl narrow her eyes to read the text in median loudness for Neo.

"Symbol of an ancient belief of a Religious Sect, known as Spiked Hearts, which would be located in Vacuo, this is one of the descriptions of the dreaded entity invoked by millions of believers in the God of Darkness, who vowed to death by offering from own blood in their bodies to bring him to our existential plan.The demon was regarded as a savior in the eyes of his followers, who would free them from their own fears and psychological crises that many of the Sect's members suffered, being chosen by the leader only therefore..."

It made Yang shiver momentarily, never liked to even think about this kind of atrocity made by so many people, so little to talk about, but it was necessary for them to understand what they were about to face when they went after Cinder Fall, thus taking a deep breath and inhaling before continuing. Neo, as an incentive, placed a few gentle touches on the blonde's right shoulder, who immediately tried to read the rest to avoid the shame of Neo's act, having the little girl to laugh silently at the reaction of her partner.

"However, following the mass suicide of the Vacuo Sect, without any knowledge on the part of the Council, it is believed that the entity has been successfully invoked to this day, wandering the earth silently while searching for such a cruel heart as his own, so as to be able to acquire a host to complete the final phase, which would be domination of the globe in a matter of weeks or months, given the magnitude that his power would reach if he could to apply possession to his host completely, but first of all, is crucial that the both have in their hands the blood of the most innocent and kindly living soul..."

The blonde was amazed to have to read these things, her eyes widening in the sheer fear as she finally pieced together the pieces of the puzzle so that she knew what Cinder and the alleged monster mentioned were aiming together, now everything was clear to her, they were using each other. The most innocent and kind soul was Ruby, who would serve Cinder as a direct entry pass to Salem's covenant again, but it would also be the perfect opportunity for the dark creature to take over the woman's body and use it as a puppet for him take control of everything in the world.

Neo had already connected the dots before Yang, clenching her right fist as she looked away from that page, internally disgusted with how despicable those two were united just to kill someone as good as Ruby, all for power, nothing more. Worse, one would betray the other at the end of their goals, it was simply shameful to have to know that life on Earth was constantly coming closer to its own end because of the mistakes of others.

Neo could feel Yang's fear and worry clearly, and she couldn't help letting a sad sigh escape her delicate lips before typing in the Scroll with both hands and showing it to her partner, who took a moment to take attention against the screen, being too distressed at such a time.

[ Let's not let them do it, blonde. It's only a matter of time before we find your friends and get together to fight these two wretches, we won't let anything bad happen to Ruby and anyone else. ]

As much as her head was like a washing machine from thinking about the whole scheme, Yang really felt Neo's words begin to bring herself back to what really mattered, it was amazing how this little girl could save the Huntresses even without even know at such times, she was grateful mentally that she was there with her, giving the support she so badly needed. As much as Yang inevitably knew that this was only for Neo's… Revenge.

"Let's move on."

With a nod and a gentle smile at the taller girl, Neo then turned the page to continue reading on a particular subject, both of which had to come to one of the topics they most needed to know, which were the powers and abilities that the entity is supposed to have.

Yang regained the composure quickly, returning to her lungs and continuing the narrative on each paragraph that was written on the paper, being careful not to miss a thing.

"Coming from the darkest abyss of darkness, devotees of such a demon, called the Dark Spectre, believed that he could manipulate the shadows as he pleased, and could use them to teleport, control objects, and create weapons of his own, even develop servants to obey his cruel and sadistic wills. His supernatural physiology made him untouched by any kind of physical attack, whether by projectiles, explosions, or martial blows, and additionally bestowed upon him extremely advanced attributes, that any other race has never ever managed to reach in the natural limits. And finally, as his main Semblance, he is seen as capable of creating portals for the most varied types of places you wish, but sometimes with fate being completely random..."

Now they were absolutely sure, dealing with this son of a bitch would be much more complicated than they had ever imagined, especially since this creature could not be touched simply, the strategy to be able to perform such an act would have to be much bolder. And as much as they tried to turn more pages, none talked about the weaknesses of that monster, no one had discovered or theorized. However, that was enough for both of them, who looked at each other briefly before Neo slammed the book shut and set it aside, joining the fingers of the own hands and leaving in front of the lips, with the elbows above the table, much more thoughtful now.

Yang leaned back a little, somewhat downcast as she closed her eyes and thought to herself about it all, trying to figure out a way to find now the next step the pair should take forward.

Neo watched her sideways in silence for a few minutes, a little afraid about typing something into her Scroll or not, mentally wondering if Yang was feeling well or not, since it had become something of fundamental importance to the little girl's knowledge. She swallowed quietly before lowering the hands together, resting them on the woody surface of the table, opening her mouth slightly to perhaps speak, but being prevented by a cornered smile that appeared on the blonde's lips.

Yang opened her eyes, immediately lifting her head and then turning the attention to the partner.

"I have a plan!"

Neo closed her mouth immediately, then returning with the enthusiastic smile, relieved to know that Xiao Long was still firm and strong for the battle to come.

Now the journey had really begun...


	6. Hope

**_"Hope"_**

The pair are now ready to finally put Yang's plan into action, and what is the most jarring and unexpected reason that even Neo is surprised to hear her partner utter it, especially because of the circumstances surrounding it. One suggestion from the Huntresses was to use remnants of the internal compartment present in the specific type of older radio, those antennas were removable and somewhat long, with a proximity of the two ends led to a bright blue discharge of energy.

According to Yang, as learned from Nora in Vale, there was a way to manipulate the radio circuits not linked to the direct frequency shared between the Kingdoms, now completely severed due to Beacon and Atlas antennas. Thus, they will be able to develop an original, coming from the only Scrolls connected to the network responsible for the signal, already naturally present in the stations that can change according to the contacts selected in the device.

The blonde's strategy was to have contact with some external source of information, such as over-Kingdom stations or communications between used military forces. In Neo's opinion, a proposal was welcomed, but it really made sense to stop thinking about it, to be well-off with surprise or the fact that her teammate had some special tricks remaining. Yang was a genius not yet used by the world, but in the eyes of the little girl, it was already a beginning.

Fortunately, to avoid having to prowl endlessly through the busy streets of Mistral, a radio similar to the one described by the Huntresses was found, which was hidden inside the wardrobes in Neo's room, that had not been occupied since they have come, using the device for then practice the working of Yang's idea.

Both of them met in the apartment's kitchen, with the blonde starting to unplug some of the internal wires in the radio's enclosure, while Neo had the task of cutting off the top shield with a previously hidden blade in her umbrella handle. In addition to slicing each circuit indicated by the highest and sharpening the screws, the settings of certain gears stuck for so long that the thing was not used. She may not ask if it is possible to activate the most suitable mode once, but prefered to keep the minimum expectation good.

Yang used a few folds between the wires, using a serrated knife to cut others in half and join the internal parts in certain positions, avoiding too much blinks so as not to miss any single detail, being watched closely by her partner, who crossed the arms at bust height, while typing with her right hand on Scroll's virtual keyboard, which would be useful for the experiment in the future, then she had to enjoy the time she still had.

[ What is the estimated time? ]

"Probably an hour and a half, I'm not sure. A lot of caution is needed in this kind of procedure ..."

[ I really hope that doesn't blow when you turn it on. ]

"Believe me, this is my biggest fear for now."

Huntresses's sweet, upbeat laugh once again made a presence between two girls, that left the little girl much more relieved than ever before, a cheer from Yang helped remove the own pessimism from her mind, was one of several things that were starting to notice her, and to admire more and more throughout it all. Neo still feel a little bit uncertain about the attitude she had in the days before when she ended up arguing with Yang so unkind, even though she knows the partner was suffering cruelly from fate, which now seems to conspire against Neopolitan, who sees one more thing thoughtful about their concepts of partnership. Yang was a great person, couldn't disagree even if she wanted to, but it was as if, except for the inclusion of they alliance, the blonde was about to be captivated incredibly strongly to the bicolor, who for the past few hours had not been able even to sit without feeling awkward around the one who had almost been her victim in the past. Neo had to admit, remembering what she did to Yang didn't cause any pride or power, as usually happens against the other opponents who suffered at her hands. In the Huntresses's case, the little girl saw with self-hatred for the fact, but couldn't touch the whole problem above either.

That was what disturbed Neo the most: What if she have killed Yang? What would become of Neo in that moment? What destination fate reserved for her?

She didn't even want to imagine that, because if she do it, a terrible headache, along with the strange feeling of tightness, across her completely. An unbearably great pain, which she would hardly express openly to her partner, both for not being sure what she had concluded about it, as well as for the shame of having to touch those subjects after all they had been through together... The things she had done against the blonde.

As much as she had no intention of intervening during the process of changing her partner's radio frequency mechanism, she unexpectedly spoke without diverting the attention fixed during the gear adjustments, removing some of them and wiping them clean with a partially wet kitchen cloth, following drying on a dishcloth and refitting carefully.

"Tell me more about Roman."

That was the last thing Neo imagined could be the topic that Yang even wanted to remember, Neo getting a little thoughtful for a moment as she remembered the good times she had with Torchwick, with a corner smile on her delicate lips appropriately moistened, trying to type in the Scroll with the fingers of both hands.

[ He was very kind, funny, affectionate, modest... ]

"Certainly he was. He was quite demonstrative of this by trying to kill my friends and me."

Neo sighed heavily as she faced such past events, as much as she didn't like to admit it, she hated to know that the reason was in favor of other people who referred to the actions taken by herself or Roman, the life they once had were not one of the most accepted by society, but it was necessary... At least that was what the little girl had imagined until then.

Was it really necessary to do all that Torchwick had for business ambition?

Without wasting much time, Neo replied with one more message.

[ To me he was, blonde. He was the only person who cared about me, the only one I trusted. ]

"I guess so... I know it must be hard... But, did you do all those things for him or you own will? When you killed other people, was it just for obligation? Or did you like that?"

Neo's eyes widened a little as she placed her left hand on the center of the chest, with several images popping into her mind as she tightened the grip on the opposite side, then changed to a rather boring facial expression, then typed quickly on the device's virtual keyboard and show it to Yang, avoiding direct eye contact.

[ It was necessary... ]

"To quench your will for victory against the enemy? Feeling superior?"

[ It was the only way to keep me alive, to continue to live a life away from the Hell I went through. ]

"But even when you reached your goal of a better life, you didn't stop. You continued to work with Torchwick, causing so many pains in a vast number of innocent people, that they had to be mutilated, just because it was necessary, according to your words."

Yang had a dot, a big dot, that made the little girl's thumbs move away from the Scroll's virtual keyboard, turning her head toward the partner once more, facing her now with a mixed expression between anger and sadness, turning to in that exchange of glances with Huntresses for long minutes, while the larger one stopped everything she did, then to keep a steady gaze on the young woman. The blonde's intention was to get Neo to wake up from that false prospect of innocence, not wanting to show any remorse for what she did, or needing an incentive to do so. For Yang, hearing the Serial Killer's regret would be enough to finally be able to feel peaceful in her presence, without having to suffer from the fear of mistrust between both parties, she needed to know if the teammate was really someone she could risk all expectations and hence her forgiveness.

But even after all that silence and the tense mood that settled in the kitchen, Neo then typed her answer calmly into the Scroll, showing the screen soon after.

[ There are more important things to deal with now. I suggest we continue with the plan. ]

Yang closed her eyes as she sighed slowly, dispelling her own frustration that it was still not possible to make the bicolor's mind realize all the wrong things she had done, but that did not mean that the Huntresses would give up looking for it. Through all that pride, was the real girl who was Neopolitan, no matter what, Yang was going to save her partner from her own demons of the past.

But now, as she had quoted herself, they should soon put this proposal into practice with the radio in the process of disassembly and internal reconstitution, with Yang trying to focus the attention on the object and snapping one of the last pieces missing, in sequence using the tip of a knurled knife to unscrew some parts of the badly fitting protective case, replacing the screws in different areas when using light force with the right metal thumb.

Neo watched in silence, slipping the Scroll into the sleeve of her white jacket, crossing the arms at bust height while only seeing the process of repair and alteration made by her partner, who had not even noticed that she had just touched in the deepest wound Neo thought healed long ago, but it was inevitable to open it once more. Having to know that those words came right out of Huntresses' mouth made the little girl's mind tingle from the disturbance it caused her. Yang affected her in inexplicably strong ways.

All that remained was to stay there, assisting the blonde from time to time with some things that needed some touch-ups as directed by her, and Neo mainly focused on maintaining the total safety of the electrical connections, reaching to slap Yang on the hand each time she moved where she shouldn't, thus arranging the place in her own way.

Thinking the Huntresses was angry with her, Neo couldn't help but get a little nervous as she approached her, still unsure if she should even care so much about the previous dialogue they shared with each other, but keeping that priority on her owm memory. However, Yang was far from upset with Neo, only a little sad to know that it would not be easy at all to make that walking ice cream admit her own mistakes, but since she liked good challenges, the blonde was ready to do whatever it takes to change Neopolitan.

The Xiao Long would turn down to her side, grinning as she rested her hands on the kitchen table.

"Be careful not to end up melting your head thinking so hard, ice cream."

Shee teased her with a right-eyed wink at her, causing Neo to stare at her for a few minutes in an extremely neutral countenance, something that made drops of cold sweat trickle down the corners of Yang's forehead, as she was about to speak more one thing, she'd been surprised by the fact that Neo's Scroll screen was placed in front of her, after quick digits were made on the device's virtual keyboard.

[ And be careful not to be put in my private cage, Pretty Dragon. ]

Yang felt her own face flush as much as she could with the perfect hit against herself, swallowing hard as she almost lost the rhythm of her breath, as she interpreted that phrase with a far more advanced meaning than it should, thus diverting attention back to the project in planning, trying to speed up everything she was doing there, thinking that it would be a better way to get rid of all that shame, but it only got worse, her own heart almost bursting with the immense fervor that began to flow through the own veins.

Noting the reaction of the other girl, Neo had to hold back the laughter as best she could, placing both hands in front of the lips to contain herself in front of that scene so preciously comic, that managed to distance her from all that negative atmosphere in which she had held afterwards the brief argument between them, managing to calm down minutes later. Making Yang embarrassed was very easy.

But after slowly looking her up and down, Neo licked her own lips, sequentially leaving her tongue between her left side teeth, smiling rather boldly, while Yang was too desperate to hide the embarrassment to even notice it.

In fact, teasing that beautiful girl wasn't a bad idea.

\--

It took a few hours to complete the plan, and Yang only had to put some finishing touches on before lifting the sides of the radio, with the antennae being better adjusted by Neo, who was careful not to end up with a shock from the tips, as there was the possibility that they still contain certain electrical charges since the last time it was used. The internal cables would have been attached to the little girl's Scroll, who was still unsure if it was worth risking her only means of communication with her partner, but it was worth trying.

Neo still thought that the idea of the Kingdoms to share the same kind of signal was ridiculous. It was just a matter of a single antenna having fallen, which was Beacon's, for everything to become the biggest chaos with inaccessibility between far too many places. Never thought of any satellite or anything? Or did it, but it didn't work too? Well, it was no good complaining anyway, because Yang's relieved sigh was enough to know that the outcome of the plan was partially completed.

"Damn, I had forgotten how much I hate to handle this sort of thing... It wasn't enough to have to adjust my right arm."

Neo smiled, amused by the reaction of the other girl, placing the tips of the three fingers of her left hand in front of her lips, which made the blonde shake her head while laughing in a relaxed manner.

"Now, it's time to see if this was really worth the time. You can plug it in."

With a positive nod, the Serial Killer headed for the external cable hanging from the table, taking it and directing it to the outlet not far from her, being a few inches away from the kitchen table on the side wall to the right, carefully wiring it there and immediately drifting away so that it had the opportunity to see some electric sparks as they ran through the cable, reaching the receiver's inlet of the object and spreading throughout the mechanism, which was activated by Yang with a simply tap on the front panel button, synchronously typing in Neo' Scroll the number that matched Ruby's, ending the process in a strong electrical discharge between the two antenna points that glowed blue, sharing it simultaneously. To remove Mistral's base frequency, the Huntresses used another knob on the outside of the radio panel, gently moving it sideways, allowing the signal to change directly to the handset to which it had dialed, with some noises being heard for leaving the Scroll.

Neo was completely surprised that this had really worked, no matter how much she assured herself that Yang would succeed, yet it was still utterly absurd the way she had done this old thing work again for something. It was then that she applauded slowly and loudly to the taller girl, who stared back, which made the bicolor stop what she was doing and lose herself in that unique glow of Yang's splendid lilac.

_Beautiful and wild..._

Neo thought, feeling the warmth in her chest gradually return as she prolonged the exchange of glances between them, but then reluctantly looking away at the radio, something that would also wake up Xiao Long, who tried to stay normal in that situation, continuing what they are doing with the project.

"Well, now it's just we- ..."

Before the blonde could finish her own sentence, a squeaking sound could be heard coming out loudly from Neo's Scroll on the table, then with a rather familiar voice echoing around the place after the signal finally stabilized, making it very clear.

"This is Qrow Brawmen here! Can anyone hear us? I think we found a way out of here..."

Hope had not yet died.


	7. A Distant Goal

**_"A Distant Goal"_**

Hearing the sound of the man's voice so perfectly well known to Yang, would make the blonde's eyes widen with a startled facial expression, that soon shifted to a sheer thrill of knowing that the bearer of such a voice was still alive, tearing up from the corners of her eyes, heading straight for the Scroll left on the table and connected to the radio.

Neo watched the girl's attitude with immense relief from her own body, both from the fact that the other girl's moods were now theoretically positive, and also from the knowledge that Cinder had not succeeded in her goal. Well, she hoped so, for Ruby's voice had not yet been heard through the transmission, and she couldn't help but worry, biting the bottom right corner of her lip as she rested both hands on the sides of her waist. She stared at the Scroll through which the call was broadcast, with the Huntresses sitting in the chair in front of the object, clearly nervous.

"Uncle Qrow! This is Yang here!"

"Yang?! Where are you? What has happened? We've been looking for you all over Atlas since the invasion started to slow down!"

"Uncle Qrow, listen, please. I'm in Mistral right now, I've been teleported here through a freak who is helping Cinder hunt us all!"

"That wretch covered in shadows... I even confronted him... Before taking Blake and Weiss..."

A gnashing of teeth was noticeable during Scroll's audio output, which made Neo sigh slightly before shifting her attention to her feet, starting to pace the kitchen with the arms crossed in front of her chest, closing both eyes, waiting much that nothing of what she was thinking could have happened to the two previously mentioned.

Yang was astonished at this moment, blinking a few times and being silent from the shock of the news, but then swallowing hard as the somewhat painful dialogue with the Huntsmen continued with some fear.

"Did he take them...?"

"Unfortunately, yes... It was inevitable, Fire Cracker. Whatever that thing was, it had enough power to confront me, along with the kids."

"And are you all right?!"

"Yeah, for now. A bit fresh from fighting to try to escape this Hell, but we still have bones for it..."

"Uncle Qrow, I promise I'll find some way to come to you!"

"No, Yang! It's too risky... Schnee is completely possessed, will do anything to maintain order in Atlas, no longer accepted reinforcements from other Kingdoms, will do it on his own. He is on one of the main ships in the air, cleaning up all surface and hunting us, searching for his daughter. "

"But..."

"No buts, Fire Cracker. We'll find a way around the situation, the priority now is that you stay safe until we meet again."

"But I have no idea what to do...!"

At this moment, the girl struck her own left fist on the woody surface of the table, which partially cracked a bit with the force used in the impact, having such arm to shake significantly with the fear that would once again be present on her mind. She could no longer avoid holding back her own feelings of pain and complete disorientation, felt lost, just as when she was a child in search of her own mother, she was desolate inside.

That sight made Neo's heart ache for how horrible it felt to have to live knowing it was part of the inner turmoil Kickboxer suffered from, placing her right palm over the own left chest as she walked over to Yang, breathing deep and sighing quietly before sitting in the chair beside her.

With a sidelong glance, Yang could see the little girl approaching, but she didn't want to face her, didn't like to think of being so weak and useless in front of the one who was keeping her from going crazy on her own. To her surprise, however, the gentle touch of the little girl's fingers would be deposited on the blonde's lower chin, bringing her head toward Neo.

As they were now sharing direct eye contact, the young assassin would use the same fingers to slowly wipe away the tears that were streaming down and forming on Yang's cheeks, who watched her with a clear sparkle in her still teary eyes, silently enjoying the minimal caresses that were done on the part of the partner, both having to face each other deeply for a few minutes.

A corner smile formed on Serial Killer's lips, using her most characteristically confident expression ever, which made Yang return the gesture by placing her own left hand over the partner's, which blushed violently a moment later. And it was no different with the Kickboxer, who tried to release it at the same time, refocusing the attention on the Scroll, trying to lower her body temperature now blazing with the moment so short, but so strangely comforting that she had with the teammate.

Neo couldn't help laughing discreetly, putting her right little finger between her teeth and watching the light show she had caused on the taller girl, and herself.

"Yang, are you still there?"

Concerned that he had received no answer for a few minutes, Qrow intervened at that moment, making Yang startle a little to the point that she almost fell off the chair.

"Y-Yeah, I'm...!"

"Your tone is kind of weird... Something you have to say?"

"A-Ah, w-well... B-Believe me, it's n-nothing..."

"Did you even hear what I said?"

"No, Uncle, I'm sorry... What would it be?"

"The kids and I are planning to get to Beacon, it's only a matter of time before we can find some still functioning ship or other resource inside the Schnee Mansion, which will no longer mind, because we are invading without him knowing."

"It's very dangerous, I saw the number of those things in the sky, it would be suicide!"

"The biggest achievements need big risks."

"Don't give me those philosophical phrases, please..."

"It was your sister who reminded me of them a while ago."

Hearing the quote from the silver-eyed Huntresses, Yang then immediately got up from the chair, resting both palms on the table in front of her, speaking in a clear and serious tone.

"How is she?!"

"I won't lie to you, Yang... Ruby is totally devastated, both ways. The injuries she got during the fight with Cinder and Torchwick's Serial Killer were really pretty serious... Jaune is doing his best to cure her with the help of Oscar... Ren and Nora have made themselves available to explore the residence with me... Ruby is constantly trying to re-create the strength to get up and go after her friends. See her pain hurts me deeply... "

The indirect quote to Neo caused her to nod slowly to the side as she crossed her right leg above the left, leaving one arm above the edge of the table, staring silently at the floor while feeling internally disappointed with herself, for nearly killing that girl, the sister of the only person she had, someone so innocent that had to suffer at the hands of the little murderer unjustly.

"Blake... Weiss..."

As Yang recalled this, it was inevitable for her to let the anger show as she clenched both fists tightly to the point of cracking the bones of the left side and making certain sparks with the metal on the right side, along with a slight tone of voice changed.

"Yang, listen. We'll find them, I swear we'll bring them back."

"I know so... Because I won't stop until I bring them safely home..."

"What are you saying...? Yang, you're not thinking of going after them alone, are you?"

"Honestly, Uncle Qrow... I'm tired of being here without even being able to do anything, enough of being left behind... I'm going after my friends, and I'm going to make Cinder pay for everything she's done to us."

"Yang, facing her alone won't work! Her powers plus those of that thing are beyond our comprehension in combat."

"Well, I can't stand still while the people around me suffer at that miserable act's. I'm determined."

With that being said, the Huntresses undid her clenched fists, now relaxing her own fingers in both hands and taking a deep breath to maintain self-control of her own emotions, turning her gaze next to Neo, located in the chair closest to her, giving a faint corner smile on her lips.

"... And also, I won't be alone."

Neo returned the gesture minimally, still as much as learning to bear the burden these events all weighed on her own back. Qrow was slightly confused by this, trying to continue the dialogue afterwards.

"Wait, who's there with you?"

"Err... Let's say is an old friend. She is helping me with all this, and will accompany me on this journey."

It was remarkable from the pauses in Qrow's speech that his distrust was wholly piqued by Xiao Long's improvisation of explanation, which swallowed quietly as she waited for her uncle to speak, which did not take as long as expected.

"Uff... You've always been pushy, just like your mother. I hope your friend can get you on track while you're going to Beacon."

With a brief sigh, his response came at last, causing great relief to Yang, who for a moment thought that he had identified something suspicious during their conversation.

"Don't worry, I can handle it on my own. Do you think you all can do it alone long enough?"

"Considering how much supplies Maria found by scanning the second floor of the Mansion, we are not going to starve to death, so the situation is not as... Grotesque as we think."

"Any sign of Grimm?"

"Few, compared to previous days, the external movement is more smoothed for now."

"Please, Uncle Qrow, be careful, all of you."

"Let it go, Fire Cracker. Your old man here still does babysitting."

"Silly..."

A relaxed laugh came from the blonde's lips, which made Neo sigh in wonder at how graceful that sound was in her ears, feeling warmed inside with the joy that was now beginning to reappear in the Huntresses, who already had a calmer countenance than moments before the connection between the two Kingdoms was made.

The little girl could not help feeling guilty enough about the way she had treated the partner moments ago, diverting her attention to now only on the fingers of her left hand, that touched in undulating motion over the surface of the table, taking on a thoughtful facial countenance as she took a deep breath and slowly rose to her feet, walking to the balcony of the apartment and observing the exuberant landscape that the horizon contained, staring at it silently as she thought deeply about her own concepts.

Yang couldn't help but follow her with the eyes, arching one eyebrow in some curiosity about what was possibly going on in Neo's head, but knowing deep down that the other young girl needed time for herself, the mood was in it all at the top of her skin, she understood very well how the teammate felt.

If the Huntresses had known at least that herself was the real reason for Neo's mental confusion, she would surely have had a heart attack.

The dialogue between the two relatives soon continued after a brief shake of the head from side to side by Xiao Long, who immediately resumed the focus on the matter long enough to hear her uncle's words.

"Yang, promise me something..."

"What's it, Uncle Qrow?"

"Don't let anger be your only motivation, otherwise fate will be much more rigid. And I don't even want to imagine anything bad happening to you, your friends, or anyone else important to me."

"I made that mistake once..."

Yang turned the attention once more to Neo, with her double-colored hair swaying in the cool, warm afternoon breeze, and she could see a soft smile coming from the little girl's lips, while she was still focus on the horizon.

Shortly after a brief sigh, the blonde continued with the sentence.

"I will not repeat it, never..."

"Great, Fire Cracker. Soon, this will all end, I promise you."

"I hope you're right, Uncle Qrow."

"By the way, how did you make that call? It's practically impossible to do this in a conventional way between Kingdoms today."

"Secrets of Vale."

"Smartass, I'll collect this information soon. But now... Listen, the important thing is to aim for a reunion between us all. Soon after Jaune can make Ruby fully recover, we will put the escape plan into practice, and it will take enough time to get to Beacon, I expect a few weeks. Until then, I hope to meet you with your father. "

The plan on his part was really rather bold, and too risky in Yang's opinion, but looking at everything that had already happened, the danger was the slightest problem today. Yang nodded slowly as she listened, closing her eyes and keeping a calm rhythm of breathing.

"Okay, Uncle Qrow... I'll try my best to get there in time, don't worry."

"Yang, there's one more crucial thing you need to know about..."

"What would it be?"

"It's important that you-..."

As it turned out, a flaw in signal stability began to occur gradually more often, thus making Qrow's words completely disconnected, with squeaks coming out of Neo's Scroll that seemed to be warming up more than usual, which immediately warned the blonde's attention. Yang, using the right metal hand to remove the device previously connected to the radio.l, but with electric currents were beginning to detach even from the outside of the mechanism, which made the Yang's eyes widen as she tried to touch the slightest surface of the object, but received a certain amount of electrical shock in return.

That thing was looking almost about to explode, with Yang taking a few steps back as she positioned the forearms in front of the face to prevent damage if it collapsed completely, but it didn't, due to the fact that the external ligament cord had been disconnected by Neo. She spun it with her left hand quickly, while her right rested on the waist, shaking the head negatively to the taller girl.

Yang sat in the chair closest, completely disbelieving that all that they had spent hours doing was now destroyed. The good part was definitely that she knew her friends and family were safe, or at least partially, but the bad part was that she didn't hear the last part of Qrow's pronouncement. And the news of Blake and Weiss having been brought only made matters worse.

"I can't believe this happened..."

She placed her right palm over her forehead with a somewhat shaken facial expression at that, closing her eyes as she had to endure the very cruel thoughts her mind kept insisting on, and she couldn't help but think of the worst hypotheses of what her friends might be suffering now at Cinder's hands. The thought of it made the own blood boil in fury.

Neo noticed the emotional state of the partner, almost instinctively, sighing heavily before taking the Scroll, still a little hot and obviously no longer connected to the voice call they would have made earlier. She then began to type carefully on the device, looking at the blonde sideways, taking no less than seconds to then take the screen of it to face her partner, as angry as she was, decided to read each written word.

[ We can try to remake this... ]

As tempting as the ice cream-themed girl's suggestion was, Yang knew that was enough for that day, they had spent almost all afternoon just focusing on it, and in the end it would eventually become useless. With that, she slowly pushed the Scroll away, a little dejected now, rising slowly from the chair and taking a deep breath as she stood, focusing her vision on the already damaged radio.

"I've heard enough, what really matters is knowing they are fine... But not all..."

Neo typed quickly on the Scroll, with a rather thoughtful facial expression, showing to Yang a moment later.

[ Hey, blonde. Don't be like this, we'll come around, your friends will be with us soon. We will go after them. ]

"Face it, Neo... Even though I said that to my uncle, there's no way we can do that. There are hardly any ships left in Mistral, nor do I have any contact with anyone other than you now... We lost our only means of communication... We're stuck here on this continent. "

[ I wouldn't say that... There is always a way. ]

"So what do you suggest?"

Yang folded her arms at the bust as she watched the girl closely. Neo seemed to be pondering for a few seconds to formulate a suitable idea for the current situation, until finally letting an innocent smile appear on her lips as she typed with the right hand on the Scroll's virtual keyboard.

[ You will see, blonde. You will see. ]

With that written, the girl then tucked the device into her front pocket of the white jacket, past her partner's side and patting the surface of Yang's metal arm, quietly heading down the hall toward the apartment's bedrooms, leaving a rather confused Yang behind.

_I'm even afraid of what might happen..._

The Huntresses thought, swallowing hard as she turned to see the little girl already entering in one of the rooms, creating a thousand and one theories.

\--

By nightfall, Yang was at that moment sitting on the bed of the apartment's own room, both hands clasped in front of the lips as she kept both eyes closed, reflecting on all that was going on in her life, trying to create a new route on the journey she was about to face across the globe, muttering under the own lamentations for Blake and Weiss. She was not as religious as others in her family, had almost no hope that there would be a righteous God except the respective legendary Darkness and Light. However, the only thing left to her at that moment was hope itself, that someone beyond the heavens could guide her through this battle that would define the life of her friends.

The dinner had been made this time by Neo, who had proposed to take the food to the depressed blonde's room, which she gratefully accepted, even though Yang was not in her best mood these days. The little girl's innocent smile was almost a reminder to the blonde that she wasn't going through everything on her own, that, whatever the circumstances, Neo would be by her side.

However, the Huntresses couldn't help wondering: Did she really care about Yang?

The last time they tried to talk about their motivations for being together, their partner's primary justification was constantly revenge itself, nothing except that. But by checking the way they were interacting with each other lately... Was she hiding another motive?

Just thinking about this possibility made Yang's heart feel more comfortable, even a little more relaxed, even in the midst of all the chaos. But the fact of not knowing if that was the case meant that the sensation did not last long, inevitably.

The blonde felt like she was going crazy like that, so many inner doubts and past fears surfacing simultaneously. Yang had no idea how to deal with it, so she decided not to focus on those matters anymore, getting out of bed immediately.

She ran the right palm over the little own face to the hair, sighing heavily as she watched from the bedroom window, the night storm that was about to begin on the dark horizon, closing the curtains as the first drops of water landed against the surface of the glass.

The room was completely covered in darkness, and Yang's mood was not in the best of days to endure such a ambient, so she decided to put an end to the gloom and open the front door quickly, heading out into the main hallway of the apartment.

Yang watched Neo's bedroom door briefly. She thought of calling the little girl to talk for a while, anything to ward off the own worries, but at the same time didn't want to pester her during the sleep.

So she chose to make the way to the kitchen, drink some water to calm her spirits, and spend some extra waking time, as tiredness seemed to run away constantly. When she got there, Yang noticed something rather strange... The radio that had been left there, taken off the table and placed on a chair, was gone.

Besides, the refrigerator seemed to have its door open, which made Yang a little confused, as she was sure Neo wouldn't let it go that way. The Huntresses approached it, closing it slowly and narrowing her eyes a little, somewhat suspiciously about it.

Then, in a matter of a few moments later, Yang felt something cold and metallic touch the central surface of her back, thus widening both eyes with a distinctly frightened facial expression, slowly turning the head above her right shoulder.

"You...?!"

The storm finally began to fall over the region...


	8. Raining Feelings

**_"Raining Feelings"_**

At last able to have the proper angle of her own vision over the right shoulder, Yang came across a female figure standing behind her, distinctly shorter than the blonde, holding a sharply and somewhat long blade that touched softly over her back, a shiver running down the taller girl's body with the momentary sense of danger she was feeling at that moment.

However, it was just a matter of a spotlight coming from the screen of the Scroll that was in the little one possession, and finally Yang could see a perfectly smiling and somewhat provocative Neopolitan, as she winked at her partner. She was about to stick to a ponytail hairstyle, much to Yang's surprise, as well as missing her white jacket right now.

The Huntresses blinked a few times at the sight of the teammate behind her, rather confused as to what that might mean between them, whether it was some kind of real threat or just some joke made by Neo. Honestly, Yang really hoped to be the second option, because she didn't even want to think about the game turning between them, not after all they were facing together.

"N-Neo...?"

Yang caught Neo's attention, her voice inevitably a little shaky, swallowing hard at the sight of those eyes... Those beautiful two-color eyes that seemed to be obsessed with her, so much that they ran through every detail of her own face, which inevitably blushed slightly, causing a smile of unreadable meaning to come to the lips of the little assassin.

Neo used only the right hand to type a little on Scroll's virtual keyboard, taking advantage of the darkness of that turbulent night to squint at the nearest young woman, discreetly licking her lips, before showing her the device screen when she finished.

[ Scared, blonde? ]

Yang looked away, a little embarrassed that she was in no position to move at all, for the other girl insisted on pressing the blade above the back of her partner's shirt menacingly, taking a deep breath and sighing briefly, before then speaking with an amused tone of voice as she laughed briefly.

"Scared? For you?"

She turned in front of Neo quickly, gripping the blade with her right metallic hand and pointing to the left side of her chest, such that it completely surprised the little girl, that she was not really intent to hurt her teammate, holding the cable firmly and holding it in place so as not to advance an inch and injure the Huntresses in some way. Neo stared at her intently with a curious facial countenance about the next actions the blonde would take, with such a defiant smile to the Serial Killer.

"You'll have to practice more than that."

Neo returned the smile casually as she immediately pulled the blade back to herself, twirling it between the left fingers quickly and stopping with the tip touching the surface of the floor on which they were standing, causing a sharp sound for echoing through the room for a few quick seconds, while typing in response to the blonde, showing the screen right after.

[ Teasing you is one of my most interesting pastimes. ]

Yang rolled her eyes at her words, resting both hands above the sides of the own waist, shaking her head slowly to the sides, and couldn't help but laugh a little at that somewhat expected revelation.

"I didn't even suspect."

The little girl would store the blade inside the umbrella once more, leaving it against the wall next to her and turning her attention to the blonde, taking advantage of both hands free to continue a more productive dialogue between them, typing immediately with the thumbs over the keyboard.

[ What are you doing up so late? ]

"Being locked in that room makes me very bewildered."

[ Yeah, I wonder. I don't like to think of being in such a closed place. ]

"Another thing we agree on."

As much as she tried to make a casual smile appear on her lips, Yang found herself failing in such a task, sighing slightly before diverting the attention before fully focused on Neo, who soon realized the sudden change in the mood of the Huntresses.

[ What happened, blonde? ]

"I just... Uff... You know, it's not easy to get some rest these days..."

[ I fully understand what you mean, but letting it constantly affect you won't do you any good. It will only make things worse. ]

"Easy for you to write this, is not your family's life at stake..."

[ The only family I had went through exactly that. ]

Only then did Yang realize how unkind she had been, speaking in that way to her partner, who was watching Yang with a remarkably serious and rather saddened facial countenance to have to broach the subject once more, making the Huntresses extremely worried inside to think that she had hurt Neo even more than she already was. She put her hands over the own hair, looking away as she frowned, closing both eyes tightly.

"I'm sorry Neo... I don't... I'm really sorry to be like this to you..."

The blonde would distance herself a little from Neo, heading into the living room with some disappointment that she was almost cashing out her own pain on someone else who, while not having the best of Yang's track record, was not worthy of such treatment. Yang would look up momentarily, staring up at the ceiling while the sound of heavy rain and the impact of the drops on the porch glass were the only sounds that could be heard so far by themselves.

However, hearing Neo's high heels against the floor would draw her attention immediately, but not yet able to face her again, turning the back to her, could feel the other girl's gaze weighing on her to return, but the courage Yang was missing at that time. However, some of this was still present in the next lines that would come to pronounce with a serious tone and half distant from reality.

"I spent several days searching for all of them... I left Beacon to get to where they were, we went through the most terrible situations that almost resulted in our deaths, and in one of them... I wasn't there to protect them. So I hadn't been there in time to keep Ruby from suffering at Torchwick's hands in that damn mine, or when Cinder had gone after her... And now that I'm far from everyone, much farther than I thought I could get... I face the uncertainty of whether, in the future, I will see them once again by my side... "

She would clench both fists tightly as she felt her own arms tremble involuntarily as she found herself in the midst of the turmoil of problems that were wrapped in her soul, almost as if she was chained to the past without even a chance of breaking free. It left her completely without options of what to do to try to overcome her own hurts, something Yang had wanted since she was little.

"In my whole life I kept hiding what I really felt about all that I went through, tried to put it aside, move on, just like Ruby always encouraged me to do, but... I can't, because even when I was almost there, I had to find myself relapsing about being abandoned once again after I lost that damn arm! "

Yang would raise her right side, tears welling in the corners of her eyes as she gritted her teeth at the accumulated anger she was finally having the opportunity to spit out, sharing with someone who probably wouldn't even care, but it was the least that there was redemption for the blonde today. Yang stared at that piece of technology that futilely tried to replace what she had lost, with clear contempt as she continued to speak.

"I was stupid enough to miss something fundamental of mine, I was reckless and mostly I acted as usual... Without any kind of notion... I let that bastard take from me a part that defined what I was, that what I am!"

Yang would immediately lower the arm, diverting the attention even to the windows on the porch doors, taking a deep breath as her own tears flowed from the pure inner sadness that was pouring from the cheeks.

"Knowing that, once again, I find myself alone, without any plausible possibility of helping those I love. As optimistic as I am, always with a smile on my lips and constantly trying to keep my outgoing way... It cuts deep into the soul having to try to create a lie, so as not to accept reality... I'm nothing... "

She would sit on the surface of the edge of the sofa in the living room, resting the palms on her knees as she remained constantly keeping her eyes down because of the shame of having to be seen in such a fragile, vulnerable, and... Desperate... Emotional.

She cursed herself for being just like that in front of who she had once considered her greatest rival, and which was now the only salvation she had for her own sanity, placing both hands firmly on the face to try to avoid it, that the crying was evident to the not-so-distant partner, who had hitherto remained only by watching her in pure silence.

The steady sound of raindrops slamming against the porch glass was almost like a tragic melody that fit perfectly on such an occasion, unfortunately. However, before Yang even had time to go on with her laments, she felt Neo's soft, gentle touch, which held both of her hands gently in slow strokes with the own fingers over the blonde's.

The Huntresses would have the palms removed from the front of her face, so that she could see the little girl almost practically gluing with Yang, causing the blonde to swallow hard as she stared deeply into the double-colored eyes that so captivated her without even noticing for a while, some several times. The heat transmitted through her touch was indescribably comforting, causing a shiver to run through the taller girl's body, which kept a slow breathing rhythm in sync with Neo's, which gave her a slight singing smile that lasted a few moments, until release the teammate's left hand to type quickly into your Scroll, choosing the words as carefully as possible so as not to worsen the situation.

It was only a matter of a few seconds before the screen was shown to Yang, who, as much as she didn't want to get the attention focused on that girl, could not contain the curiosity instinct as she looked at her message.

[ Yang, you are everything many people could never be, even if they were born again. ]

The blonde raised an eyebrow with some confusion at the possible meaning of it, being about to speak, but silenced simply by the positioning of Neo's right index finger, resting on the soft, slightly parched lips of the taller girl, who couldn't avoid blushing gradually with such delicate physical contact this time. The feel of the little killer's skin was simply creepy, sassy... And sweet in a proportion that made Xiao Long doubt if she was still in the presence of the same Neopolitan she had confronted on that train.

Neo seemed rather pleased to see that the partner had finally agreed to be quiet at least once in her life, and couldn't help but a quiet, brief laugh that would make Yang's heart race unusually fast as she noticed the delicate and perfectly fine features made up of the other girl, with the moonlight in the rainy exterior to illuminate well enough to see how angelic the little teammate was. In fact, it had been a long time since the blonde had noticed that, she had not been steel to resist even a brief perverted look... Neo caused her emotions so strong, which she tried to deny internally, not considering it to be a correct thing. But that damn ice cream could always attract her more and more.

Yang was worried about the thoughts she had about the one that nearly killed her, she didn't know how to act on a dilemma against that one, almost losing all the air in the lungs as she felt the warm palm of her right hand resting above the belonging cheek to Xiao Long descedent, receiving gentle, slow caresses in the area, which soon boiled with shame over time.

With the left hand, Neo chose to type in the Scroll once again not too fast, but also unwilling to go too slow, showing the screen to the teammate in sequence.

[ I know I may not even be entitled to say that I know what happened, because the paths we have both taken in our lives have been completely different, but… Since we began to become closer, from rivals to allies... I started to change everything that I once thought about you, exceeded my expectations, made me see how stupid I was for not seeing it before... ]

A pause had been made so that the ice cream-themed girl could go on writing the rest of what was still missing in that text, taking a deep breath and sighing briefly warmly, removing from her the words she so much wanted to be able to pronounce, but would not be possible until then. Neo could feel the surprised look and the amazed feature of the blonde in front of her, who was unsure what to say to that. Besides, it was Neo's turn to put what she thought out.

When the Scroll screen was shown minutes later, Yang's heart began to race uncontrollably by paying as much attention as possible to each letter her eyes roamed.

[ You're the bravest person I've ever met in my life, blonde. As reluctant as I still keep to admit it, because I've never been the kind of person who delivers compliments... But I'm sincere, and that's reason enough to let it surface... You endured more heartache in life from what I could not even imagine, was punished with an unjust pain that runs through me too, just having to imagine someone as good as you having to be suffering like that. ]

The Huntresses felt tears slowly forming at the corners of her eyes once more, biting her lower lip with some force as she felt it open her deepest soul wounds once more, but she had to endure that feeling, she would not weaken, not in that time.

[ I was not present on these occasions when you had to be tested of fate, but one thing I know, Yang... You didn't give up, even after all these tragic events, you persisted bravely and even risked boarding on this journey with me. Even though you hasn't been able to do certain things in the past, it doesn't make you useless, quite the contrary... We all make mistakes, we all fall, but with each fall, we get up with double caution not to allow ourselves to be on the ground again... Learning from fate, with all the pain it brings us through, but it makes us stronger, and helps us overcome it. ]

Neo picked up the Scroll for herself once more, while Yang covered the lips with one hand as she couldn't help letting the tears come back, slowly sliding down the own cheeks to her chin. But then, gritting the teeth and frowning, the girl would lower both hands, now fist-shaped, to her own knees, determined to overcome that feeling of sadness at all costs. She was fed up with letting the past interfere with it, she had to stop, and as the sounds of Neo's digits were made, the frequency of crying diminished to nonexistence.

The little killer smiled discreetly from the corner when she noticed that her partner was taking that action, it was working, so she decided to put her best as she finished formulating the last part of her text, showing the screen to Yang.

[ The people who abandoned you, I know it caused you a big wound that makes you think about the constant possibility of being alone again, but it doesn't have to be that way… They came back for you. As much as you were disabled due to the fact that your arm was severed, it didn't stop them from remaining willing to help you, to be with you, to consider you part of the family that you also consider yours... Yang, many of the fears that hit us are impossible to forget, but it is possible to overcome them... The fear of losing your friends, being alone or defeated, all of them you can bury together from the past, because it's something you've been strong enough to resist till the end. ]

Neo's chest eased as she breathed in a pause, and soon after Yang seemed to have finished reading, she was finally feeling lighter at putting out what she had to keep to herself as she witnessed so many relapses into Yang's emotions, looking down at the Scroll and complementing with a few more digits.

During such a period of time, the Huntresses felt as if those words were stabbing her own brain to wake her to the reality that seemed so far away. She had not stopped to think about that kind of view, not even for a second, was so lost in the dark thoughts that she had no guidance to clear them. But now... With the help of Neopolitan... It was almost as if, inside, the wounds gradually healed.

The blonde's face was filled with an expression of total reflection, with her mouth a little open and speechless to even pronounce until then, she was completely knocked out at that point. Her hands trembled a little, because of how conflicted she was with herself, keeping her gaze focused on the beautiful brown and pink in the eyes of Neo, she felt an incredible need to be connected to them again... But the almost imperceptible awkwardness of the ice cream girl did not allow Yang to have such direct contact, so she was content to just watch the figure of the little girl in the moonlight, with thunder and lightning taking over the heavens intensely, with loud crashes sounding on the horizon, causing the young assassin to shiver.

And then Neo finished typing what was missing, bringing it up to Yang's face and waiting for her to read, biting the left corner of the lower lip, somewhat afraid she'd chosen the right words.

[ Don't blame yourself for it all, blonde. Regardless of whether these things were only focused on you, it doesn't mean that you're the cause of them. It is not possible to understand for sure why fate does this to us, but of one thing I know... It has made you even more radiant in the darkness of this world. ]

As Yang read the last sentence, it felt as if her blood was bubbling through the veins and the own body, being warm to the point of boil like have never felt before, almost losing the air she was trying to keep in the lungs. But the attempt was pointless. Yang glanced over the Scroll, finally able to stare straight into Neo's beautiful eyes, which were almost like a mirror for Yang's soul to realize what was missing within herself.

And what was missing... It was Neo.

The blonde couldn't stand it for one more second seeing herself without the necessary retribution to the partner, using her left hand to pull the device away from her and capture Neo's slender body with both arms, in a firm and comforting embrace as she closed her eyes, burying the face against the other girl's right shoulder

Neo was static, not expecting that at some point they would even share such a gently gesture, and was to squint at the blonde, who was about to pour her own sadness out definitely by squeezing the assassin's small body tighter. Neo had to make a great effort not to end up distracting even for a second into her partner's uppermost parts, swallowing hard as she blushed slightly, preventing this when turning the head to the left.

"Of all the people in this world, I never, even in a second of my life... I figured you would be the one who would direct those words to me..."

Yang held tight to the other's shirt tightly, opening her eyes slowly as she kept the attention on the stormy horizon from the porch, the light from the distant rays illuminating the living room, with the rain hard enough to make the glass constantly cracking properly to the aggressive impacts of the drops against its surface.

"And honestly, I'm... Glad they came from you..."

Neo widened her eyes at that, being extremely confused by the mix of sensations that coursed through her body with an intense shiver that made her hold on to the teammate, the heart a million nearing Yang's mouth to Neo's right ear, now blushing hotly as she noted the assurance of the Huntresses tone of voice.

Yang caught the breath for a moment, using the right hand to slowly smooth and caress her little partner's long two-colored hair, curling one of the strands on her index finger, while Neo felt completely lost about what to do now, that sense of comfort was... so inexplicably good. Roman had never even hugged Neo, it was the first time she'd felt the experience of being physically sharing an affective moment, and it made her a little embarrassed, shivering as she tried to pull away, but Yang's strong arms prevented her from going too far. And honestly, Neo really didn't want to leave.

"Because it shows you have a good heart, even after all..."

She noticed that Huntresses was about to pull back a little, so looking up at the partner and could feel the warm touch of her palms by gently grasping the sides of Neo's head, with them sharing a deep look and in a silence, cut only by the sounds of the storm. A corner smile appeared on Yang's lips, tilting the head slightly to the right.

"Thank you, really."

Neo would raise the own hands to the blonde's wrists in front of her, being at that point feeling the heart out of control at once, rubbing the thumbs over Yang's fingers, her eyes slightly teary to hear what Huntresses had kept all that time in the mind. The thanks from the taller one made Neo a little awkward, laughing silently before reaching down to grab the Scroll once more, typing in it with the thumb and then showing to Yang.

[ You're welcome, blonde. ]

They stared into each other's eyes deeply for a few minutes, but they seemed to compare to the hours before the so electrifying connection they shared, Neo's hot breath for making Yang shudder completely before pulling her own hands away, coughing internally to try to regain composure in that situation. It took a few seconds for the little killer to come back to reality, blinking a few times before resuming her serious facial expression, frowning as she tried to control the intense flush on her cheeks, turning her head to the opposite side.

"You know, this is quite unreal."

Neo raised an eyebrow doubtfully about the meaning of that phrase, and could then hear Yang's sweet laugh at being the only thing that could make the disturbing sounds of the storm completely disappear. She tried to type discreetly in Scroll with both hands, showing to her.

[ What you mean? ]

"Being here... Being honest with each other."

[ Is it that amazing? ]

"Given the fact that you tried to kill me, it can be considered at least improbable."

A quick smile came across Neo's lips, realizing how ironic the fate was, but then fading as she reflected once more on the memories of the day she had first confronted Yang, when she had almost murdered the only person who was now at her side, feeling almost as if the own heart were being pierced by the same blade as her umbrella. Neo was suffering from the same pain she had thought had almost caused to the Huntresses.

That made Neo start writing on the Scroll, intent on showing regret for that fact, for the first time she felt that way, guilty and angry with herself. She had never had such an experience in the entire life, for unlike Yang, no one had shown Neo the true harm and consequences of her own past actions.

But who could blame her? She was working, it was her duty, not as if she wanted to go on! Well... That was the lie that still held... Neo had to face the facts, had remained in the business because she liked that, the feeling of power, control and superiority before those so many who had already been killed during her bloody path from Torchwick orders. As much as she didn't like to admit it, killing was something she appreciated.

But... After seeing Ruby beg to her for survive, her friends were endangered, and as she spent time with Yang... Neo felt as if her instincts were gradually becoming less present.

She was about to show the Scroll to Yang, but had been interrupted after a brief sigh, followed by the partner rather thoughtful words.

"Ruby and I used to look like this, you know? Together, while our father went off on a lot of chores in town during a raining afternoon, we watched the drops of water slide out the window, and picked each one, disputing which would reach the end of the journey without falling apart."

The blonde laughed a little at the own speech, shaking the head slowly, taking a deep breath before continuing, leaving a Neo completely surprised and somewhat entertained by her history.

"She always beat me on this, it was inevitable. I've always had bad luck getting the right one."

Neo blinked a few times before turning to face the window, which had been externally filled with water from then on, with several waterlines sliding through the glass and forming steadily more, standing there thinking for a few seconds, before then deleting the previous Scroll message and typing immediately.

"Sorry, I know this is an irrelevant thing to -..."

Before Yang could finish the sentence, the screen was shown to her almost in the blink of an eye, raising an eyebrow before reading what was written.

[ In this case, how about a match? ]

"Are you serious?"

[ Of course, it will be interesting to see you lose. ]

Neo would give a teasing wink to the blonde, who then smiled sharply excitedly as she changed the facial expression to a more challenging one, which made the little girl more eager for the so-called "game" to begin.

"You'll regret writing these words, ice cream."

[ Bring it on, blonde. ]

That was enough to make the Huntresses jump off the arm of the couch, already moving closer to the porch, sitting on the floor with her legs folded, then nodding for the other girl to join her, which wasn't even seconds before she was already by Yang's side, an innocent smile crossing Neo's lips, before they looking at the glass covered with water droplets.

"Here we go..."

\--

Hours went by with both of them focusing their full attention on just that incredibly addictive game, which caused several frustrated laughter and sighs that failed to once pick a drop that would come to the end, both because the aggressiveness of the rain was immense, but also because it was hardly possible to see which belonged to whom of the two girls.

Neo was determined to beat her partner in this, no matter if they would spend the whole morning there, she needed to feel that satisfaction, so that she could finally rest in peace. And, coincidentally, it was the same as Yang, who had all concentration fixed on the glass almost as if it depended on her own life.

"Get ready to lose, ice cream!"

Announced the blonde, narrowing her eyes as she saw two drops forming on opposite sides down, sliding out the window slowly, trying to point right immediately, marking it as her own, leaving the left for Neo, who, like Yang, observed with as much expectation as possible. They mentally hoped that they would come to the end, and Yang had to act as a coach to encourage the last straw.

Until, as they were approaching the end, the two met to form only one, sliding to the bottom of the window, disappearing from the sight of both girls.

Neo and Yang were completely taken aback, notably by their facial features, shifting their attention to each other in a silence only interrupted by the rain, along with the sound of both slow breaths, with the fingers of Huntresses' left hand discreetly intertwining with those on the right of the little killer, swallowing hard before she spoke, carefully analyzing every detail of each other's faces.

"Neo..."

A slight flush broke out on Xiao Long's cheeks, who felt adrenaline seeping through her veins as she moved a little closer to the ice cream-themed girl, who could be considered a cherry, because of so red she was properly ashamed, looking away to the ground.

"Do you... wish you never tried to kill me...?"

Yang would press more firmly on both intertwined fingers, with a distinctly sentimental and sensitive expression at that moment, while Neo showed a more fearful and uncertain, not taking too long to move the own hand away from the teammate, then rising.

She reluctantly kept her attention focused on just the Scroll as she typed quickly, showing to Yang in sequence.

[ I had so much fun with you tonight, but now I really need to rest... And think about what we talked, okay? ]

And with that, she walked out toward the hallway, taking a look over her left shoulder and typing one last time to finally finish as she reached for the taller girl.

[ Good night, blonde. ]

Neo left shortly thereafter, coming in front of the door of the own room, already quite open, only then having to close it as she entered, leaving a completely confused and electric Yang in the middle of the room.

The Huntresses grinned, her heart almost out of her mouth so wonderful it was that sensation so unheard of and almost forgotten by herself. But at the same time, Yang still seemed unable to forget the fact that, once again, Neo was still kept considering herself innocent after all, something that made the blonde sigh heavily, closing both eyes while the thunder was the only company currently in that cold night.

Yang was really starting to care about that girl more than herself...


	9. Heart Issues

**_"Heart Issues"_**

By the next morning, the rain had already had some of its frequency diminished as time went on, with Yang still lying on her bed as she stared out the bedroom window, watching the horizon, so she could concentrate on the thoughts at least for a minute, remembering how late she had to go to sleep and why it had happened.

All night long, her mind could only focus on one thing, or rather, person... And it was Neopolitan. The dawn they spent together made a huge difference in the descendant Xiao Long, who was now comforted as never before, was hopeful and even optimistic, resuming her characteristic way of being, which for so long seemed to have completely disappeared of herself after the disappointing past events, which were no longer tormenting her by all minutes. The words Neo spoke to her were almost a shock of reality, the motivation Yang so badly needed, so far she could feel her heart race just remembering the delicate face of that girl watching her, only by the look showing that she was never going to give up on Yang, that inside of Neo was a lovely personality...

Yang had to admit, lately she was more noticing in Neo than herself. All the slightest contact they'd had since they'd met again, even the blows during fights, somehow made the blonde's spirit more... wild, free, intense... It was incredibly unique how only her partner could bring such emotions to her. Yes, Yang didn't even imagine that she could ever have to admit it, but Neo was a part she lacked, the half boldness and confidence she'd once given up looking for.

That girl stood by her side even in situations that were not directly linked to the Huntresses' mental goals, regrets and fears, in all this Neo cared and even helped to resolve, even if it wasn't her businesses. It was one of the attitudes that most caused Yang's mind to be completely confused about the possibility that both of them might be, indeed, able to overcome the rival past they shared with each other, or if they still lacked confidence enough for each other to get closer than just allies in pursuit of the same goal.

Yang rolled over slowly to the left, staring at the ceiling as she wondered about how much her partner had become so fundamentally important to her since the beginning of the journey, began to see the little girl with a more sensitive side, that Yang watched with silent admiration, which cost a lot to get out of the vocal cords by words. The comfort that the former rival caused in the blonde was unparalleled, not even Taiyang was able to make the daughter stay that way during the recovery in the family cottage, it was as like Neo had gone through exactly the same as the Huntresses...

And it was then that Yang remembered... That the Serial Killer had suffered much more than she had in the past, with even greater difficulties, a dark history from which, only to think, made the blonde being disturbed by the inexplicable pain in the region of the heart, when imagining the possible deplorable experiences the girl must have faced.

Yang sighed heavily, turning sideways to the left, hugging the pillow closer to her body, burying her face in its soft surface, snuggling over the object as she remembered the hug that had shared with Neo last night. She could still feel the warmth of her slender body, the scent so sweet it emanated from the beautiful strands of her long hair that fascinated Yang, those beautiful curves in contact with her own body... Okay, she was going too far with that.

Yang blushed fervently as she raised the face with the blood in the veins bubbling with embarrassment at the sensation so soft it was touching any part of Neo's body, how warm she was, how... Okay, Yang was almost drooling without even realizing it, and when she did, almost lost all her breath before awkwardly laughing and hiding the face on the pillow, rolling with him back and forth on the bed. She felt almost like a child who has just had a birthday party.

Momentarily she stopped, immediately pulling the pillow away from her body and grasping the sides of the object with both hands, watching him with a distinctly surprised expression at the things she had been doing lately, breathing slowly and warmly as she imagined Neo in front of her. Neo's face, just like the previous dawn, how close they were at that moment, and couldn't help but look away and release the pillow close to the head.

She would sit on the bed, with both hands and fingers entwined in front of her lips, closing both eyes as she took advantage of that moment alone to reflect on the actions she had done all this time, remembering on her partner's words the night before, analyzing it all they had done together so far, and the way she felt about her. It was exactly twenty minutes in that position, and whose were rewarded with a definite answer to all the internal questions she had kept to herself for too long.

_No way..._

Yang thought, her eyes widening as she suddenly lowered the hands to the knees, her breathing quickening to the point where she had to get up from bed to regain the normality of it, resting the right metallic forearm on the bedroom wall and getting a little downcast while muttering to no one else hear.

"I'm in love with a psycho killer..."

That was the fuse of Yang's mind, which was so stunned at the moment that she couldn't even define what it was and what wasn't real any longer, walking around in a continuous loop around the bed, placing her hands on the sides of the head and gripping the strings tightly from her fingers, continuing to speak spontaneously, almost as if emptying out of her own dilemmas.

"No, no, that can't be possible! Not for her!"

Yang shook the head to the side as she tried to get that thing out of her brain, closing both eyes tightly and frowning, the footsteps being stronger on the floor, now circling in a moment of total internal debate about whether she was sure of it or not. On the one side, her heart was wildly indicating her desire for the little girl, but her mind kept arguing with the use of the old-fashioned facts that Neo had almost killed her, Ruby, and who knows who more people.

Yang couldn't fall in love with someone like that! But... The way Neo used her so much to act with her made she feel special for the first time in her life... And Yang couldn't ignore that, it only made her even more attracted to the partner.

"I can't... I can't be feeling this... Please, say to me that isn't true..."

To Yang, that was a completely wrong conclusion to the own morals, she couldn't accept that being harboring loving feelings for someone who had hurt her so many times, and the people who were close to she. That was unacceptable, outrageous! At least for most people who were in this situation... But for the blonde... The knowledge that it was a forbidden love, only increased the desire for Neo, however much denied, wanted that ice cream for herself.

That Serial Killer was driving Yang completely crazy, so much that she was fighting with herself because of this.

"What the hell!"

Yang shouted, already fed up with that terrible doubt that was about to take care of just about everything she should be thinking at the moment, thus throwing a huge punch against the bedroom wall, which trembled along the glasse of the nearby window, creating a deep hole that almost reached the outside of the structure, making the Huntresses finally get rid of what was completely blinding her and moving away from the goals she needed to pursue, and which were mainly to find a way out of Mistral and reach Beacon, like Qrow said during their only Scroll communication.

"Calm down, Yang... Just stop thinking about her, and focus on what really matters now."

She muttered to herself, pulling both hands up and resting them on the sides of her waist, opening both eyes slowly and taking a deep breath as she tried to take the reins of the situation, proceeding at a slow pace until she was finally more relaxed with herself, watching the landscape through the glass in the bedroom window, softening the expression for a more serene, yet somewhat distant.

However, that moment did not last long, for seconds later the door slammed open to reveal a Neopolitan wielding the umbrella in an attacking position with the sharp blade of the tip being retracted, scanning the room with her eyes until locked them in Yang, who at the moment would have jumped sideways with the shock that led to such an unexpected partner's act, placing the right metallic hand on the center of the chest.

Neo raised an eyebrow as she saw the hole in the wall, then checked once more the room as she drew the Scroll from the left sleeve of the white jacket, using her thumb to type on the device's virtual keyboard and then directing it to the Huntresses, who was recovering from Neo's momentary appearance.

[ What happened, blonde? I heard a loud bang from here. ]

The taller girl would blink a few times before she could formulate a phrase that made sense, having been momentarily distracted to find herself staring somewhat indecently at certain not very appropriate parts of Neo, which now seemed much more detachable since Yang had thought about the feelings she began to cherish for the Serial Killer, swallowing hard before then shifting the attention only to Neo's eyes, losing herself in the glow of pink and brown that made her heart go crazy. Finally, she was able to be conscious enough to give a minimally adequate answer.

"N-Neo ?! A-Ah, w-well... I ... I think I just got nervous."

[ You did it? ]

"E-Err..."

Yang would place the right metallic hand behind the back of the neck, scratching it lightly amid a slightly low-pitched nervous laugh, then sighing briefly and nodding slowly in the affirmative.

"Yes, it was me, but I can explain!"

[ No need, I already understood everything. ]

Reading that made Yang almost choke completely, taking a few steps backward as Neo slowly approached her as she retracted the umbrella tip blade into the shaft again, the heart of the the Huntresses seemed about to burst from thrill with that occasion.

"N-Neo?"

Suddenly she stopped in front of Yang, who was already with thr back to the wall behind her and shivering a little, while sweating quietly slightly, causing the little girl to be somewhat confused by the behavior of the teammate, but then turning the attention to the Scroll and typing immediately, and then showing it to the partner in front of her.

[ It's about last night's subject, isn't it? ]

Yang blinked a few times, staring in surprise at the Serial Killer, who tapped her left toe lightly on the floor, waiting for an answer from the other one, resting the free left hand firmly on the side of the waist.

"A-Ah, yeah! T-That's right! It's about... Last night's subject... That's it!"

She stammered a little as she spoke, but it was no problem for Neo to understand, much as she did not quite understand the meaning of all the taller one nervousness, being really worried about her at the moment.

With that answer, Neo sighed slightly, already writing on Scroll.

[ Yang, you know you can count on me anytime, you don't have to be quiet. Want to talk about that? ]

The expression so delicate and filled with the pure concern of Neo, made Yang almost had a heart attack, so she was holding back not to do something she would later regret, or maybe not. That girl fussed with the Huntresses so much that she was constantly wondering if she really cared about the blonde, no matter how many signs, the words Neo showed her on the second day of their alliance still cost her to believe in many of the things Neo did for herself.

"N-No, no! I mean ... It's fine, really."

Still somewhat bewildered, Yang tried her best to sound convincing, so as not to delve deeper into the subject again, having the smaller one to cross the arms at chest level, tilting the head a little to the side and having a slightly suspicious countenance.

_Damn it..._

Yang thought, already completely hopeless that her teammate would believe in what she had said, closing both eyes tightly and turning the head to the left, waiting for fate to decide what would happen until then.

Yes, Yang was being dramatic.

Neo then shook her head, silently laughing at the rather odd behavior on the part of the other girl, typing on Scroll's virtual keyboard with the right hand and pulling the blonde's shirt with the left, immediately catching her eye. Yang opened both eyes slowly, turning the attention to the little killer, who was about to point the screen at her.

[ Alright, I understand you don't want to talk about it now. But you know I'll be here when you need me. ]

Yang only then realized how stupid she was being to act that way with the smaller girl, sighing heavily as she smiled quietly from the corner and nodded at her, placing the right metallic hand on Neo's opposite shoulder.

"This is something I am quite sure of."

That made an innocent smile rise on the lips of the ice cream-themed girl, who raised the left hand to her shoulder and rested it delicately on Yang's hand, who until then was beginning to set the feelings aside, but the slightest touch of that young girl, already made her change completely. It was inevitable not to blush at that, at first being light, but then gradually intensifying, trying to pull the hand away from Neo's body and coughing internally.

Only then could the Huntresses notice something different in the air, a burning smell that appeared to be coming from the corridor or somewhere near it, thus looking at Neo and then at the already open door.

"Can you smell that?"

The little killer raised an eyebrow in doubt as to what she was talking about, but then realized after sniffing such an odor from outside the room, frowning before waving a hand at Yang to follow her, both of them hurrying out to the origin of that. It wasn't even long, due to the fact that it came straight from Neo's room, which was beginning to fill with smoke.

Yang took off her jacket to put in front of the mouth and nose, with the example being followed by Neo, following up to the focus of the near fire, which originated from something completely unusual. It was the radio they had modified! It was apparently rebuilt, plugged into the farthest outlet and intensely boiling both internally and externally.

In one swift motion, the blonde carried Ember Celica on her right metal arm, firing over the cable connected and finally stopping that thing before it exploded. Neo opened the window to let the smoke out sequentially, while Yang pulled the sheet from the bed immediately and then curled around, signaling her partner to step back and throw it out, using 3 shots of Ember Celica to destroy that completely.

"Very well... Now you owe me explanations."

Told the Huntresses, folding the arms across her bust, staring at Neo with a rather serious countenance at the moment, considering the fact that they almost set the whole place on fire for such a piece of garbage. Neo sighed quietly, removing the jacket in front of the nose and typing in the Scroll now with both hands, taking less than 3 minutes for her to finish, showing to the taller one sequentially.

[ Well, you told me you weren't willing to try the project again, it wouldn't work out a second time. So, as you know I am not limited to anything, I decided to rebuild on my own for the rest of the morning, so I stayed up so far working on it. ]

"But... Neo, look, I appreciate what you want to do, I know we're out of options, but we'll find a way to-"

Suddenly, the Serial Killer's left hand was raised to indicate that Yang would stop talking for a moment, and however incredulous that left her, she decided to be silent for her partner to "speak" through the Scroll.

[ I got it. ]

"What are you talking about?"

[ I found a way to go to Beacon, blonde! ]

"But how?!"

[ During my radio tests this morning, I was able to signal once again to other Kingdoms, but this time I did not use it for calls, but for sending messages outside Mistral. Roman had many contacts with smuggled cargo ships, and I took advantage of the fact that I have a listing on the Scroll, so I tagged one to pick us up at a port not so far from here. ]

"Wait, but why would any of them do it for something, besides business reasons?"

[ That's why I lied in the messages, agreeing to export a large load of Dust to Beacon, and that the payment for the shipping would be quite generous. ]

"We won't really have to pay these guys, will we?"

[ Of course not, that's where we use the element of surprise. ]

Neo would wink at the blonde, who then grinned before jumping and punching the air in victory, then celebrating euphorically as she looked down at the shorter one.

"Neo, you're just wond-...!"

Before she was over the boundaries of intimacy between them, Yang coughed internally before hiding some of her happiness as she placed the hands in the front pockets of her pants, laughing a little awkwardly afterwards.

"I mean... Great job, ice cream."

Neo couldn't contain a brief laugh at the words of the teammate, causing Yang to sigh in wonder at how adorably treacherous and intelligent this girl was, and how lucky the Huntresses was that they were no longer rivals. Well, at least temporarily.

Moments later, both of them found themselves reconnected with each other through the deep, sincere gaze they shared, with the colors of Neo's eyes suddenly changing, the room now so quiet that the only sound that came from it was both breaths, and if it wasn't some kind of hallucination, even the girls' heartbeats. Yang knew this was a rare moment, perhaps the only time she could have, to be true with the Serial Killer.

Then, however nervous, fearful, and uncertain, she took the reins of the situation as she took a deep breath and spoke.

"Neo, I..."

"GRIMM! HELP! SOMEONE HELP US!"

Yang was immediately interrupted by several shouts from outside, which left the two teammates in full alert as they rushed out of the room and onto the balcony of the apartment, where upon arrival they could come across a Grimm of the bear type trying to reach them, with Yang using Ember Celica to immediately create a crater on the creature's skull, reloading her weapon then as she saw the body collapse from there, with Neo then pointing to the other floors of Mistral, whose Grimms varied and powerful were infesting, which were fought by both the inhabitants, as well as the students of the Academy, who split into various groups to clean up the Kingdom.

Several buildings were destroyed during the confrontation, collapsing into the space between the mountains that formed the territory, the sky becoming darker and more cloudy throughout, with huge crowds trying to escape on their own while escorted by Mistral's security guards from Atlas prototypes, that fired at every monster that crossed their paths.

Not far away, it was possible to see a somewhat different being among that army of creatures, whose one was above the roof of one of the highest buildings on the floor below which were Neo and Yang. He was similar to the demon that accompanied Cinder in their first battle, but unlike him, he had sideways whitish details about his own body, as well as a sharp smile of the same color, but no eye at all.

Suddenly he turned his head toward the pair, pointing in sequence at them with his left index finger.

_"Kill!"_

He spoke with a tone of voice that echoed across the mountain as well as a half-broken, forcing most of the Grimms to move toward where they were.

Neo and Yang then looked at each other, the little girl already holding her umbrella, twirling the handle between her fingers, as the Huntresses snapped her neck and adjusted her shoulders for the upcoming battle to come.

"Well, it looks like this is going to be a long day."

Little did the team know the danger they were in accepting this fight...


End file.
